Total Propaganda moves the study of propaganda out of the exclusive realm of world politics into the more inclusive study of popular culture, media, and politics. All the participatory functioning elements of the society are aspects of membership in the popular culture. Thus, the values of popular music, media, politics, debates over social issues, and even international trade become everyday propaganda to which everyone may relate.
To emphasize the necessity for new thinking about propaganda, Edelstein creates the concepts of the new propaganda and the old, and he devises a language of "uninyms" to convey their meanings more quickly. "Oldprop" is characteristic of mass cultures and utilizes totalitarian methods of conflict, hegemony, minimization, demonization, and exclusiveness to achieve its goals. By contrast, "newprop" is created by members of the popular culture to allow them to engage in accomodation, enhance the individual, and promote inclusiveness. Shifts in the old and the new propaganda are tracked across social issues such as race, religion, sexuality, gender, gun control, and the environment, as well as in fashion, politics, advertising, sports, media, and politics.
Central to the concept of total propaganda is that it is not simply additive; it is the product of new energies that are produced by the fusing of propaganda in such related forums as music, art, advertising, sports and politics. It is these synergies, and their production of new energies, that make total propaganda greater than the sum of its parts.
Edelstein concludes that the most important distinction that should be drawn between mass culture and popular culture is its text; i.e., its propaganda. In a popular culture, everyone creates and consumes propaganda; in a mass culture almost everyone consumes it but only a few create it. This formulation offers new ways to discuss power and ideology in media texts. As an example, where once the least informed and the least educated were the most subject to propaganda, now the most informed and most educated often are the first to create propaganda and the first to consume it.
- 368 pages
- English
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Foreword: Popular Culture and the New Propaganda Katharine E. Heintz-Knowles
- Part I: FRAMING TOTALPROP: THE OLD PROPAGANDA AND THE NEW
- 1 Totalprop: From Mass Culture to Popular Culture, the Old Propaganda and the New
- 2 Definitionprop: Distinguishing the Old Propaganda From the New
- 3 Languageprop: Inventing the Uninym
- 4 Multiprop: Generation and Class
- 5 Cyberprop: The Path to Totalprop
- Part II: ENTERTAINMENTPROP: SURPRISINGLY NEWPROP
- 6 Filmprop: Picturing the Generations
- 7 Adprop: Appropriately Cool!
- 8 Sitlifeprop: Flirting With Realities
- 9 MTVprop: Inventively Newprop
- 10 Rockprop: Alienation, Fame, and Liberation
- 11 Rapprop: Telling It Like It Is
- 12 Sportsprop: Businessball and Heroes Great and Small
- 13 Humorprop: Opiate of the Popular Culture
- Part III: MEDIAPROP: FROM BROADCASTING TO JOURNALISTIC NIRVANAS
- 14 Radio Talkprop: Using Oldprop for Fuel
- 15 TVprop: From Talk to Infotainment
- 16 Mediaprop: Shooting the TV Messenger
- 17 Journalismprop: Searching for Nirvanas
- Part IV: SOCIALPROP: ISSUES SEEKING ANSWERS
- 18 Gayprop: One Foot In, One Out
- 19 Genderprop: Women in Mid-Passage
- 20 Trinityprop: Race, Abortion, and Religion
- 21 Lobbyprop: The NRA and the Environment
- Part V: TRADEPROP AND POLITICALPROP: THE PRODUCTION OF LEXICONS
- 22 Tradeprop: “Naftoids” and a Vision of GATT
- 23 Asia-Bashing, A Cultural Oldprop
- 24 Politicalprop 1992: Gridlock and Credibility
- 25 Politicalprop 1994 and 1995: Restoring Presidentialprop
- 26 The 1996 Campaign: Softprop and Hardprop
- 27 Pollprop: Court of Last Resort
- 28 Endprop: The Road Ahead
- Name Index
- Subject Index
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Yes, you can access Total Propaganda by Alex S. Edelstein in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Communication Studies. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.