Propaganda and Persuasion

Chapter 1 What Is Propaganda, and How Does It Differ From Persuasion? 43

In the same century, rhetorical theorists such as Philipp Melanchthon, the humanist educator, contemporary of Martin Luther, and major religious reformer of Germany; Leonard Cox, the first to write a treatise on rhetoric in the English language; and Thomas Wilson, Elizabeth I's secretary of state, whose Arte of Rhetorique was published eight times in 30 years from 1553 to 1583, were turning out works that echoed the ethical principles of Plato, Cicero, and Quintilian. Even after the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide became an official organ of the Roman Catholic Church in 1622, no rhetorical theorist addressed its implications with regard to persuasion. The major rhetorical works of the 17th century were Francis Bacon's four treatises— adapting classical rhetoric to the needs of the scientist and affirming the value of ornamentation and imaginative coloring in rhetoric—and the works of the early elocutionists Robert Robinson and John Bulwer, whose delivery foreshadowed the rhetorical movement that placed major emphasis on delivery and pronunciation. Rhetoric and Propaganda The study of persuasion in the theories of rhetoric laid down throughout the centuries emphasized adherence to the truth and sound reason in reveal ing the real intent of the persuader, demonstration of a conclusion based on evidence and reasoning, and a sincere concern for the welfare of the audi ence. These are the humanistic concerns of the classicists. It can be argued that the humanists were concerned with eloquence and consequently pre ferred rhetoric to logic. No major rhetorical theories have come from nations whose governments have been totalitarian; thus, the history of rhetoric hardly includes the study of propaganda except for allusions to misuse of rhetorical techniques for dishonest ends. The Bolsheviks had Eisenstein to describe and demonstrate the use of propaganda in film, and the Nazis had Hitler's Mein Kampf and Goebbels's diaries as guidelines for propaganda, but these have not been part of the history of rhetorical theory. The reason for this comes from the rhetorician's insistence on a consideration of ethics in rhetoric. Not until Kenneth Burke, the American literary critic, wrote "The Rhetoric of Hitler's 'Battle' in 1939 (in Burke, 1973) did a serious rhetorical critic tackle and analyze propaganda while simultaneously contributing new ideas to rhetorical theory. Drawing on what he called the Dramatistic Pentad—five interrelated moti vational or causal points of view—Burke (1941/1973) analyzed the act (what took place in thought or deed), the scene (the background of the act, the situ ation in which it occurred), the agent (the actor or person or institution that