Group psychology and the mobilisatory spectacle
Year: 1990
Type: article
Abstract: Summary Theatrical and cinematic texts produced specifically for the purpose of furthering particular political ends are often dismissed as propagandistic: morally reprehensible and not worthy of academic enquiry. It is, however, only when moral attitudes towards propaganda are put aside that the sophisticated aesthetic mechanisms and the political power of propagandistic theatre and film can be fully explored. This paper contends that Freud's account of group psychology provides a useful and revelatory means of understanding the way in which film and theatre can function via suggestion and hypnosis, rather than rational instruction, to produce conviction in the viewer. Through an application of Freud's group psychology model to the poetry/performances of Mzwakhe Mbuli, the South African “Peoples’ Poet”, and Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the will, a film commissioned by the Nazis, this paper hopes to demonstrate how theatre and film can function to mobilise audiences.
Source: Journal of Literary Studies
Authors: Carol Steinberg, Nicola Galombik
Institutions: University of the Witwatersrand, New York University
Language: English
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $388
OpenAlex ID: W1968879975