• 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