Abstract
Starting from an iconographic recognition of those social transformations that in the twentieth century recognized in the poster a means of communication and in the image a device for capillary information, the essay aims to deepen the forms assumed by historical ideologies in posters propaganda, the graphic metaphors adopted to spread the message and the persuasive techniques to spread its values. This is not an iconographic classification structured by artist or historical period, but an analysis on the identification of a common language for the representation of political ideologies that several historical moments intertwined with the artistic movements from which they drawn strategies and expression techniques for the formal composition of a visionary and visual propaganda.
The graphic material of the essay summarizes visual stories of social actions that found expression in the fight against national control policies, in the liberation movements and in respect for human rights campaigns during the reconstruction phases of socialist societies like Soviet Union, China, Cuba, or at the dawn of the Italian-German dictatorial regimes and in the countries militarily occupied by Nazi-fascists, through propaganda posters and graphic units codified by symbols and verbal-visual constructs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Cf. Schnapp (2005), p. 19. Origin.: Paine T., “The rights of man”, in Blaisdell B. (ed.), The communist manifesto and other revolutionary writings: Marx, Marat, Paine, Mao, Gandhi, and Others, Mineola, New York 2003, p. 86.
- 2.
- 3.
Regarding the meaning of the term propaganda, the Encarta World English Dictionary proposes two meanings: the first is to respond to the distribution of promotional information; the second concerns the dissemination of distorted information. Cf. Seidman (2008), p. 8.
- 4.
Villari (2008), p. 15. Origin.: Maraini A., Prefazione, in VI Mostra del Sindacato Belle Arti del Lazio. I Mostra nazionale del Cartellone e della Grafica pubblicitaria. I Nazionale d’Arte sportiva. Catalogo, Roma 1936, p. 7.
- 5.
Cf. McQuiston (1993).
- 6.
Cf. Rowe and Koetter (1978).
- 7.
Vladimir Tatlin in the field of architecture, Alexander Vesnin in scenography, Varvara Stepanova and Ljubov Popova for the textile industry.
- 8.
Cf. McQuiston (1993).
- 9.
On the subject of the relationship between the media and political propaganda see Seidman (2008).
- 10.
For further information on the Italian advertising art between 1920 and 1940 see Villari (2008).
- 11.
For further details on the representation of the crowd in propaganda posters see Schnapp (2005).
- 12.
Cf. Schnapp (2005).
- 13.
Villari (2008), p. 14. Origin.: VI Mostra del Sindacato Belle Arti del Lazio. I Mostra nazionale del Cartellone e della Grafica pubblicitaria. I Nazionale d’Arte sportiva. Catalogo, Roma 1936, pp. 67–68.
- 14.
Fitzgerald (2004), pp. 23–24.
- 15.
Villari (2008), p. 20. Origin.: Maraini A., Prefazione, in VI Mostra del Sindacato Belle Arti del Lazio. I Mostra nazionale del Cartellone e della Grafica pubblicitaria. I Nazionale d’Arte sportiva. Catalogo, Roma 1936, p. 7.
References
Fitzgerald, F.S.: The Great Gatsby. Scribner, New York (2004)
James, P.: Picture This: World War I Posters and Visual Culture. Lincoln & London, Davidson (2009)
Lafont, M.: Soviet Posters. The Sergo Grigorian Collection. Prestel Verlag, Monaco (2007)
McQuiston, L.: Graphic Agitation. Social and Political Graphics Since the Sixties. Phaidon, Londra (1993)
Müller-Brockmann, J., Müller-Brockmann, S.: History of the poster. Phaidon Press Limited, New York (2004)
Pisch, A.: The Personality Cult of Stalin in Soviet Posters, 1929–1953: Archetypes, Inventions and Fabrication. Anu Press, Acton (2016)
Rowe, C., Koetter, F.: Collage City. Massachusetts, Cambridge (1978)
Schnapp, J.T.: L’arte del manifesto politico 1914–1989. Ondate rivoluzionarie. Skira, Milano (2005)
Seidman, S.A.: Poster, Propaganda and Persuasion in Election Campaigns Around the World and Through History. Peter Lang, New York (2008)
TASS Russian News Agency. TASS History 2018. http://tass.com/history. Accessed 12 Feb 2018
Villari, A. (ed.): L’arte della pubblicità. Il manifesto italiano e le avanguardie 1920–1940. Silvana editoriale, Milano (2008)
White, S.: The Bolshevik Poster. Yale University Press, New Haven-London (1988)
Yanker, G.: Prop Art: Over 1000 Contemporary Political Posters. Darien House, New York (1972)
Zegers, P.K., Druick, D.W.: Windows on the War. Soviet Tass Posters at Home and Abroad. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (2011)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Vattano, S. (2020). Persuasive-Graphic Propaganda: Signs, Shapes, Glances. In: Cicalò, E. (eds) Proceedings of the 2nd International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Image and Imagination. IMG 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1140. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41018-6_50
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41018-6_50
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-41017-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-41018-6
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)