Literary Propaganda

Propaganda Literary Propaganda

Introduction to Literary Propaganda

Propaganda by individuals has sometimes taken literary forms. Many classics of philosophy, history, religion, and economics, as well as novels, poems, and plays, have been written in part with propagandist intent. The histories of the French author Voltaire, the pamphlets of Martin Luther, and the works of Karl Marx are examples. Propaganda for social justice was carried on by the British statistician Charles Booth and by the American social-settlement worker Jane Addams. In American literature, an outstanding novel of propaganda is Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe. By her depiction of black slavery in the South, Stowe contributed to the growth of the abolitionist movement before the American Civil War (see Abolitionists).” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Literary Propaganda in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Literary Propaganda