7.4 Performance and propaganda

Propaganda and performance have a powerful connection. Performances can emotionally sway audiences, making them ideal for spreading ideological messages. From Nazi rallies to North Korean mass games, propaganda has used performance to influence beliefs and actions.

Ethical concerns arise when performances deceive audiences or undermine open societies. Artists may sacrifice integrity to comply with propaganda demands. While effective for swaying emotions, propagandistic performances can leave audiences feeling betrayed and resistant to genuine art.

Propaganda and Performance

Defining Propaganda and Its Relationship to Performance

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• Propaganda is a systematic form of purposeful persuasion that attempts to influence the emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of a targeted audience for ideological, political or commercial purposes
• Propaganda often presents facts selectively (perhaps lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis or perception
  • Uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information presented
• Performance, with its ability to emotionally move an audience through storytelling, spectacle, and the embodiment of ideas, can be a powerful vehicle to disseminate propaganda
  • Influences the opinions, beliefs and actions of a targeted group
• Propagandistic performances often aim to benefit the sponsor of the message, either directly or indirectly
  • Serves the sponsor's interests rather than the public interest or encouraging independent thought and discourse

Historical and Contemporary Examples of Propagandistic Performance

• Nazi Germany extensively used performance to spread antisemitic and nationalist propaganda leading up to and during WWII
  • Rallies, marches, and mass spectacle events united the German people behind Hitler's fascist ideology
• Soviet socialist realism was the official artistic doctrine to glorify communist values and political agenda from the 1930s-1980s in the Soviet Union
  • Manifested in theatre, dance, and other performance arts
• The U.S. government sponsored performances and funded artistic projects during the Cold War period as "soft power" propaganda
  • Promoted the American way of life and democratic values internationally
• North Korea's annual Arirang Festival, or Mass Games, serve as a large-scale propaganda spectacle
  • Demonstrates social regimentation and loyalty to the state and the ruling family through gymnastics and artistic performances
• Terrorist and extremist organizations have used performance to spread fear and their radical ideological propaganda
  • Public executions, marches, and video recordings of acts of violence or destruction

Performance as Propaganda

Emotional Manipulation and Persuasive Techniques

• Propagandistic performances often use emotionally manipulative techniques to influence the audience's beliefs
  • One-sided storytelling presents a biased perspective as truth
  • Scapegoating places blame on targeted groups to incite prejudice and conflict
  • Fear mongering exaggerates threats to create anxiety and a desire for strong leadership
• Performances serving propaganda frequently exploit the trust and emotional influence performers have over an audience
  • Inculcates beliefs that may go against the audience's own self-interests
• Propaganda in performance can inflame an audience's emotions in the moment
  • But may leave them feeling betrayed and resistant to genuine art or truthful messages afterwards

Sacrificing Artistic Integrity for Ideological Compliance

• Artists and performers serving propagandistic aims may have to sacrifice their creative integrity
  • Required to comply with the ideological message and demands of the sponsoring entity
• Artistic works are judged primarily by their adherence to and effectiveness in communicating the official propaganda
  • Rather than their aesthetic quality, truthfulness, or authentic expression
• Propaganda can lead to formulaic, repetitive performances that reinforce doctrine
  • Deviation, experimentation and nuance is discouraged

Ethics of Performance Propaganda

Deceiving and Misleading the Audience

• Propagandistic performances often intentionally spread biased or false information
  • Deceives the audience and discourages critical thinking
• Propaganda tells only partial truths or outright lies
  • Presents skewed data and uses hyperbolic language
  • Fabricates or misrepresents facts to suit its agenda
• Performers may knowingly or unknowingly participate in disseminating dishonest propaganda
  • But are nonetheless culpable in misleading the public

Undermining Open Society and Human Rights

• Propaganda in performance can contribute to the creation of a closed society
  • Authoritarian power structures and ideologies go unchallenged
  • Dissenting voices are suppressed
  • Human rights are violated
• Propagandistic performances often serve as a vehicle for authoritarian or totalitarian control
  • Mobilizes the public to support the ruling regime and official narratives
  • Stifles free thought, open debate and diverse viewpoints
• The repetition of propaganda through performance normalizes extreme ideologies
  • Desensitizes the public to rhetoric and policies that marginalize and oppress certain groups
  • Paves the way for discrimination, state violence and genocide