222 The Origin of The Word of Propaganda

Its first documented use occurred in 1622, when Pope Gregory XV established the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide. At the time, in the wake of Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church was engaged in mostly unsuccessfully holy wars to reestablish the faith by the force of arms. Realizing that this was a losing effort, Pope Gregory established the papal propaganda office as a means of coordinating efforts to bring men and women to the “voluntary” acceptance of church doctrines. The word propaganda thus took on a negative connotation in Protestant countries but a positive one (similar to that of education or preaching) in Catholic areas.

The term propaganda did not see widespread use until the beginning of the twentieth century, when it was used to describe the persuasion tactics employed during World War I and those later used by totalitarian regimes. Propaganda was originally defined as the dissemination of biased ideas and opinions, often through the use of lies and deception. However, as scholars began to study the topic in more detail, many came to realize that propaganda was not the sole property of “evil” and totalitarian regimes and that it often consists of more than clever deceptions. The word propaganda has since evolved to mean mass “suggestion” or “influence” through the manipulation of symbols and the psychology of the individual. Propaganda involves the dexterous use of images, slogans, and symbols that play on our prejudices and emotions; it is the communication of a point of view with the ultimate goal of having the recipient of the appeal come to “voluntarily” accept this position as if it were his or her own.

Pratkanis, Anthony R., and Elliot Aronson. AGE OF PROPAGANDA, The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion. 1. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 2001. 11. Print.

216 Back On Research

These past periods of time have been busting my ass, but gave a lot of time to think, experiment, talk and argue. As time goes by, my interest in social science grows more. Thus I made up my mind on what I really need to research on my social science study that still related to visual communication design. It’s the technique that turned the world around in the opposite direction, it’s a weapon of mass persuasion since the old days of human life which rulers, religion, politicians, marketers, advertisers use to move the masses toward a desired position or point of view. Say hello to propaganda, the nasty word that soon we’ll understand inside and out.