The Continuation of Music as a Propaganda Tool After the Nazis
Keywords:
Music as propaganda, Nazis, Ideology, Control, Contemporary influenceAbstract
This paper examines how music can be utilized as a propaganda tool, tracing its history and contemporary applications. Propaganda is defined as the manipulation of public opinion by governments or individuals, and the use of music to evoke emotion and unite the masses has a long history. This study examines the Nazis’ music policy, organizations such as the RKK and the RMEO played a key role in controlling music distribution and propagating Nazi ideology. Contemporary music parallels this, illustrating how music continues to influence public opinion. The analysis emphasizes music’s dual role as an art form and propaganda tool that can influence social norms and reinforce dominant ideologies. The study calls for a critical approach to the music consumed, emphasizing the need to recognize the potential value of music.
References
Perris A, 1983, Music as Propaganda: Art at the Command of Doctrine in the People’s Republic of China. Ethnomusicology, 27(1): 1–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/850880
Evans RJ, 2005, The Third Reich in Power: 1933–1939. The Penguin Press, New York.
Meyer M, 1991, The Politics of Music in the Third Reich. Peter Lang, New York.
Levi E, 1994, Music in the Third Reich. St. Martin’s Press, New York.
Kater MH, 1997, The Twisted Muse: Musicians and Their Music in the Third Reich. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Potter PM, 2016, Art of Suppression: Confronting the Nazi Past in Histories of the Visual and Performing Arts. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Singh VB, 1968, China’s Cultural Revolution. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 29(4): 329–334. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41854291
Cowell H, 1948, Music as Propaganda. Bulletin of the American Musicological Society, 1948(11/12/13): 9–11. https://doi.org/10.2307/829258
Fackler G, 2016, Music and Power in the Third Reich: Cultural Expression, Ideology, Propaganda. Routledge, London.
Fosler-Lussier D, 2020, Music and Media in the Service of the State, in Music on the Move. University of Michigan Press, Michigan, 120–148. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.9853855.13
Kater MH, Riethmuller A, 2005, Music and Nazism: Art Under Tyranny, 1933–1945. Central European History, 38(1): 163–165.
Adorno TW, 2002, What National Socialism Has Done to the Arts (1945). University of California Press, California.
Broszat M, 1981, The Hitler State: The Foundation and Development of the Internal Structure of the Third Reich. Longman, London.
Mittler B, 2008, Popular Propaganda? Art and Culture in Revolutionary China. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 152(4): 466–489. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40541604
Spotts F, 2003, Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics. Overlook Press, New York.
