Propaganda (Ellul)
Propaganda is a book by the French sociologist Jacques Ellul, first published in 1962 . In this work, Ellul analyzes the internal and external manifestations and categories of propaganda, its sociological conditions and necessities as well as its psychological and democratic-theoretical effects. The English translation of the book was published in 1965.
content
Ellul's basic assumption is that propaganda is a sociological phenomenon and not “something certain people do to achieve a specific purpose.” Technological society is a condition for propaganda to exist, and propaganda in return ensures the survival of this form of society. In his foreword to the first book edition from 1962, Elull rejects the political system in which propaganda exists as an irrelevant measure of its moral evaluation.
Ellul differentiates between agitation propaganda and integration propaganda . He declares the education system to be a basic requirement for propaganda. Intellectuals are also the social group that is most receptive to propaganda, because they want to form a definitive opinion on all "important questions of the time".
reception
Robert R. Kirsch, a Los Angeles Times journalist , described propaganda as “a far more terrifying work than any of George Orwell's nightmare novels . Using logic, which is a great tool of French thought, Ellul tries to prove his thesis that propaganda, regardless of positive or negative intentions, not only has a destructive effect on democracy, but is perhaps the greatest danger to humanity in the modern world. "
Marshall McLuhan wrote in Book Week that Ellul has proven that "when our new technologies take over any culture or society, the result is propaganda."
literature
- Propaganda. A. Colin, Paris 1962 (French first edition)
- Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. , translated by Konrad Kellen and Jean Lerner, Knopf, New York 1965, 313 pp.