Brazilian Propaganda

Legitimizing an Authoritarian Regime

Nina Schneider

• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9780813064246
  9780813049908
• eBook ISBN:
  9780813065007
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Latin American & Caribbean History
• Index: History

In Brazilian Propaganda, Nina Schneider examines the various modes of official, and unofficial, propaganda used by an authoritarian regime. Such propaganda is commonly believed to be political, praising military figures and openly legitimizing state repression. However, Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-1985) launched seemingly apolitical official campaigns that were aesthetically appealing and ostensibly aimed to "enlighten" and "civilize." Some were produced as civilian-military collaborations and others were conducted by privately owned media, but undergirding them all was the theme of a country aspiring to become a developed nation. Focusing primarily on visual media, Schneider demonstrates how many short films of the period portrayed a society free from class and racial conflicts. These films espoused civic-mindedness while attempting to distract from atrocities perpetuated by the regime. Mining a rich trove of materials from the National Archives in Rio and conducting interviews with key propagandists, Schneider demonstrates the ambiguities of twentieth-century Brazilian propaganda. She also challenges the notion of a homogeneous military regime in Brazil, highlighting its fractures and competing forces. By analyzing the strategy, production, mechanisms, and meaning of these films and reconstructing their effects, she provides an alternative interpretation of the propagandists' intentions and a new framework for understanding this era in Brazil's history.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface to the Paperback Edition
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Legitimizing an Authoritarian Regime—Brazil
• 1. Small and “Democratic”? The Official Propaganda Institution
• 2. Stars Appearing in the Sky: Unconventional Propaganda Films
• 3. Beware! More Propaganda
• 4. Getting Into Their Heads: Propagandists’ Intentions
• 5. The End of the Story: Propaganda Reception
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1. Sources and Methods
• Appendix 2. The Men behind Brazil’s Propaganda, 1968–1979
• Notes
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index