• Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Guernica is propaganda? If you remove the “misleading” part of the definition of propaganda then all communication is propaganda. A Maths textbook is propaganda.

    but as art, the message intended by the author is not as important as the interpretation of the audience.

    You state that as a fact when this is the problem being discussed!

    The author is trying to tell you something and you are saying, “I don’t care if you try to correct me. You actually meant amphibians go to the river and your attempts to correct me are wrong.”

    • Jojo@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      propaganda (usually uncountable, plural propagandas)

      1. (as a neutral word, dated) Agitation, publicity, public communication aimed at influencing an audience and furthering an agenda.
      2. (derogatory) Such communication specifically when it is biased, misinformative, and/or provoking mainly emotional responses.

      I’m using sense 1, here, and yes, Picasso’s Guernica is propaganda. It was commissioned explicitly to raise awareness and funds for a war. It is also, and separately, art.

      I don’t think all communication is propaganda, but I also don’t think all communication is art. If you’re choosing to create something and call it “art” while also trying to push a particular message, it is (at least almost) certain that you are also intending to convey an emotional and influential message. Perhaps there need not be an agenda, except your own desire to send the message you hope to.

      Edit: formatting