Module V·Article III·~1 min read
Propaganda of the 20th Century: The Rhetoric of Totalitarianism
The Public Sphere, the Rhetoric of Reason, and Great Orators
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Goebbels and the Techniques of Propaganda
Joseph Goebbels — Minister of Propaganda of the Third Reich — created a system of total communicative manipulation, utilizing all available media: newspapers, radio, cinema, posters, mass events.
The principles of Nazi propaganda (systematized later): simplicity (one enemy, one slogan), repetition, emotional influence instead of arguments, appeal to fear and hatred, creation of “us” versus “them,” monopoly on information, presentation of propaganda as “truth” versus the “lies” of the enemy.
Radio — the main instrument. Goebbels created the “people’s radio receiver” (Volksempfänger) — cheap, widely accessible. By 1939, Germany had the largest radio coverage in the world. Hitler’s voice entered every home.
Soviet Propaganda: The Rhetoric of Utopia
Soviet propaganda used other tools: the language of class struggle, scientism (Marxism as a “scientific” worldview), utopian images of the future, and the heroic narrative of the revolution.
“Socialist realism” in art — a rhetorical style: reality is depicted “in its revolutionary development,” that is, as it ought to be according to ideology. This is not a lie in the literal sense — it is an alternative reality one must live in.
Victor Klemperer (“LTI — Lingua Tertii Imperii,” 1947): the Nazi language as a subject of study. The language of the Third Reich created a special semantics: “fanatic” became a compliment, “victim” — a virtue, “struggle” — a permanent condition. Language shaped the perception of reality.
Question for reflection: Klemperer studied how the language of totalitarianism changed perception of reality. What words and metaphors in modern corporate language quietly shape perception — normalize what ought to be challenged?
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