Jacques Ellul's The Technological Society, which we
enthusiastically greeted a few seasons back, received a rather
mixed critical reception, ranging from huzzahs ("a classic" and so
forth) to George Lichtheim's dismissive "a tissue of twaddle."
Propaganda is a much less ambitious work, but equally as complex in
its reasoning and controversial in thesis. Once again Ellul is
concerned with the disastrous autonomy of technological instruments
and structures and the resultant totalitarian similarities between
East and West. Propaganda as a phenomenon is for Ellul essentially
the same whether in the USSR, the USA or China. These are the Big
Three propaganda blocs, and all other nations follow or vary in
accordance wroth them. At any level, propaganda is a "menace which
threatens the total personality," and can be so under democratic or
dictatorial governments: Mao's formula "each must be a Propagandist
for all" is not too different from our own "organization man"
manipulations. "If I am in favor of democracy," says Ellul, "I Can
only regret that propaganda renders the true exercise of it almost
impossible." Ellul is insistent on this point, but marshals enough
evidence or "observation" in its favor to dismay the reader. The
work makes important distinctions between types, conditions and
effects of propaganda, going into extreme detail re ideological
indoctrination or mass media "communication," along with political,
social and psychic considerations, and emphasizes over and over the
underling "need for propaganda on the individual's part." It is
here that the "normalcy" takes shape: the statistical/sociological
brand of the West or the "brainwashing" type of the East produces
identical results a normalcy which breeds "propaganda that can
reduce the individual to the pattern most. useful to society."
Ellul' s work is brilliant, thoroughgoing, frightening. (Kirkus
Reviews)
'The theme of Propaganda is quite simply. . . that when our new
technology encompasses any culture or society, the result is
propaganda. . . . Ellul has made many splendid contributions in
this book.' -Robert R. Kirsch, The Los Angeles Times
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