Propaganda, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is defined as ideas or statements that may be false or exaggerated and that are used in order to gain support for a political leader, party. High profile public figures have been using forms of propaganda for many centuries to try and make themselves look like the protagonist, and make their enemies look like the antagonist. In today’s world, this is commonly used in presidential campaigns.
Everybody that is running for president will do whatever it takes to tarnish their competitor’s reputation in order to make themselves look like a much better fit for the job. Rulers in the prehistoric era did the same thing. They would have people make them look powerful in art and literature in an attempt to make all of their people aware of just how powerful they really are. I believe the way that propaganda has been used not only by rulers centuries ago, but by political figures now, is effective in persuading people to better understand and support their leaders.
In the ancient Near East, there are many types of statues and statuettes that depicted exactly how some people lived and acted during that time period. One statue in particular that I found interesting was the Standing Male Worshipper. This statue was created somewhere between 2900 and 2600 B.C. and it belongs to the Mesopotamian culture. I found this statue interesting because it was sculpted in a way to educate not only other Mesopotamians, but people of other societies as well. The large eyes and the small hands are used to emphasize the concentration and focus that people used to pray. Praying is something that the Mesopotamian people took very seriously, and they would not let anything get in their way of praising the people that were here before them.
127 our experts are availableright now
This not only shows how the rulers during this time period led, but it also shows how some statues like this were used to educate people that grew up in a certain society. Parents could show and explain this statue to their children in an attempt to let the children know just how important religion is to them. This will lead to the children having a much better understanding of what exactly needs to happen during prayer.
Literature in the ancient Near East is also loaded with propaganda, and I believe that the most well known form of propaganda from this time period was Hammurabi’s code. Hammurabi ruled from 1792-1750 B.C.E. and he was the sixth ruler of the Amorite dynasty of the Babylonian’s. The most famous scripture that he created has to be his own code which was a set of 282 laws. The code was used in a way to show that Hammurabi was not going to be alright with any nonsense. If you break one of his laws, you will be punished. Some of the punishments had to do with “removing the guilty party’s tongue, hands, breasts, eye or ear” (A&E Television Networks, History.com).
If, in today’s society, we had a leader who put out a set of laws with extremely gruesome punishments, it would definitely make me much less likely to commit any sort of crime. If somebody committed a crime in our world today, they would be looking at either community service, jail time, or the death penalty. Harsh punishments for sure, but nothing as unbelievable as the ones that Hammurabi had. Punishments like these are a great way to let others know that you will not tolerate anybody disregarding your orders. This can instill fear into your people, which will make them less likely to disobey your orders in the future.
In Egyptian art and architecture, propaganda was extremely prevalent and it was expressed through many different types of sculptures, statues, and pictures. Egyptians represented social status through sculptures by changing the sizes of the different gods or pharaohs (anciv.info). The larger the sculpture, the more powerful and respected that god or pharaoh actually was. This could also be something that could prove to be educational for some of the children growing up in this era. It is easy to understand that the more powerful and respected a ruler is, the bigger statue or sculpture they will get. This form of propaganda can be extremely effective because there are many famous sculptures and statues all around Egypt during this time period. People walking around seeing giant sculptures of someone will make them think about just how respected the people being portrayed really are.
Literature wise, the Book of the Dead was one piece that I thought was rather odd. The Book of the Dead listed spells that allowed people to find a pleasant way through their afterlife. I felt like this could be a form of propaganda because it encourages people to live everyday like it is the last day of their lives. Once you get to your afterlife, you are required to pass through the, “Hall of Truth” to see if you are worthy of living a pleasant afterlife. Some people will be able to go past the Hall of Truth, while others will not be as fortunate. If everybody in Egypt respected everybody and lived their best lives, then their life at the time and their afterlife would have been the exact same.
Propaganda nowadays has drastically changed from what it was in the Egyptian and ancient Near Eastern time periods. In presidential campaigns, everybody sees commercials from one candidate degrading another candidate. It seems like a rather obnoxious thing to do, but it certainly gives whoever is making the commercial a better opportunity to get more votes because they are being depicted in a more positive light. Would you feel inclined to vote for somebody if you found out through a commercial that they used money from their campaign to benefit themselves in something other than their political field? I would think twice before doing that. Now, whether that is actually true or false is up for interpretation.
Using propaganda like this does not necessarily mean that all of the information that you are using to bring down another candidate is accurate. A good amount of those commercials are not using credible information when they are making the other candidate look like the bad guy. This is extremely different from how propaganda was made centuries ago. Back in the ancient Near East and in Egypt, propaganda was writing scriptures on rocks and making statues. Nowadays it is making pamphlets and creating advertisements that people around the world will see.
Present day literature is also something that can be used to enhance a leader’s image. Creating things like pamphlets and posters to write good things about a presidential candidate can persuade people to want to vote for them. This can be a deciding factor during their presidential campaign. If your team is not creating things that are making you look extremely smart, powerful, and loyal, then they are not doing enough to boost your image. Propaganda in literature form is a great way to boost your image and it is extremely effective in persuading people to support you.
Propaganda has changed so much throughout the years, but yet it still has the same concept. It still has to do with gaining support for a specific leader through some sort of information, whether it be true or false, but it is shown in many different ways. Leader’s images are enhanced much more in today’s world because of the fact that propaganda is much more marketable. All in all, it is beneficial because it helps people make more logical decisions that can help create a world of change.
