Jacques Ellul: Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes (1962/1973)
Filed under book | Tags: · agitprop, democracy, ideology, marxism, mass media, propaganda, soviet union, technology, totalitarianism
“A far more frightening work than any of the nightmare novels of George Orwell. With the logic which is the great instrument of French thought, [Ellul] explores and attempts to prove the thesis that propaganda, whether its ends are demonstrably good or bad, is not only destructive to democracy, it is perhaps the most serious threat to humanity operating in the modern world.” –Los Angeles Times
Originally published in French as Propagandes by A. Colin, Paris, 1962.
Translated by Konrad Kellen and Jean Lerner
With an introduction by Konrad Kellen
Publisher Vintage Books, Random House, New York, 1973 (reprint of the Alfred A. Knopf 1965 edition)
Vintage political science and social criticism
ISBN 0394718747, 9780394718743
332 pages
PDF (updated on 2012-7-17)
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I did a close reading of Ellul’s book back in 1976. Because it speaks to what propaganda is and what its uses are, rather than being a “how to” book, the book becomes a starting point for thought.
My favorite quote is — “Propaganda ends where dialogue begins.”