Culture wars, new orientalism and historical engineering

Propaganda and spin campaigns are waged on many levels, from the obvious (advertising, TV news) to areas where one would not expect ideological meddling (comic books, novels). While propaganda is meant to have an immediate effect on a target public, and its benefits are seen in the future in terms of altering perceptions, inducing action or passivity, culture wars and historical engineering are meant to appropriate the narrative of other cultures as seen by a target public and to reinterpret history to blunt its critical message. The effect of culture wars can be seen as a lateral effect (incorporating wider aspects of a target audience understanding of others -- cultures or nations). Orientalism is a section (albeit the most important one) in culture wars; new Orientalism simply refers to the explicit meddling in history, narrative, and literature for propaganda or ideological purposes. Historical engineering on the other hand has a vertical effect in time; it aims to appropriate the narrative comprising history and the interpretation of this history. That is, the purpose of such efforts aim to appropriate history and project its effect backwards in time. The instruments to wage culture wars, Orientalism and historical engineering are found in all the media, i.e., novels, comic books, cinema, radio, etc.

The Clash of Civilizations and its military manifestation, the War on Terror, both require culture wars -- specifically new Orientalism -- and historical engineering. To attack other nations, and let alone attack an entire other culture, entails an attack on their culture too. The dehumanization of "the other" takes place on many levels, and there are many examples of just such literature and films. The interpretation of history in the area also is under general assault; thus the native efforts to build a desired society are denigrated and the colonial history is recast as beneficial for the thankless locals.

Specific media: novels, comics, cinema, games

In 1978, Edward W. Said's Orientalism, an important book, emphasized that colonial constructs and history are key to interpreting literature. In his follow-up work (e.g., Culture and Imperialism (1994)), Said also demonstrated that imperialism very much sought to capture the narrative of colonized countries and cultures. That is, culture is very much a propaganda battleground. For very different propaganda reasons, novels have on occasion been commissioned or written to provide an ideologically convenient interpretation of history. Historical engineering with novels entails rewriting history in a way that it fits in with current propaganda or ideological requirements. The historiographical novel lends itself for this purpose because the standards for historical accuracy are very low – after all, it is a novel, and thus it can be considered fiction. For more information:

• For a list of novels used for propaganda purposes.

In the early 1970s, at the height of the Salvador Allende government in Chile, Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart demonstrated that even comic books became propaganda instruments. Donald Duck had a very clear ideological message and it also attempted to usurp the local narrative. Furthermore, with the impending reactionary coup in Chile the comic book message became less subtle and it the carried a crass propaganda message. Similarly, after the 1973 coup, comic books played an important propaganda role for several years before they again became "merely comic books". For more information:

• Propaganda uses of Comic Books.

Cinema and visual media have increasingly played an important propaganda role. Films were commissioned to change the perceptions of stretches of history, appropriate a historical narrative, and alter perceptions of other cultures. For more information:

• Culture wars and historical engineering through films

Games have also been exploited to manipulate perceptions. The Pentagon propaganda apparatus has funded war simulation games to project the image that its soldiers are the good guys, heroic, etc. Some games have massive ad budgets -- the games are used as a means to project the desired message to a large audience. Other games apply the same technique to project similar messages. For More information:

• Cultural engineering through games

Kulturkampf during the Cold War

The onset of the Cold War saw the break out of culture wars, or kulturkampf. The Soviet Union didn't have the military might of the US, and thus used culture as a means to influence an audience in the West. Early on American intelligence officers identified this looming cultural confrontation and sought to compete directly. Frances Stonor Saunders writes:

Experts in the use of culture as a tool of political persuasion, the Soviets did much in these early years of the Cold War to establish its central paradigm as a cultural one. Lacking the economic power of the United States and, above all, still without a nuclear capability, Stalin's regime concentrated on winning 'the battle for men's minds'. America despite a massive marshalling of the arts in the New Deal period, was a virgin in the practice of international Kulturkampf. As early as 1945, one intelligence officer had predicted the unconventional tactics which were now being adopted by the Soviets:

'The invention of the atomic bomb will cause a shift in the balance between "peaceful" and "warlike" methods of exerting international pressure,' he reported to the chief of the Office of Strategic Services, General Donovan. 'And we must expect a very marked increase in the importance of "peaceful" methods. Our enemies will be even freer than [ever] to propagandizel, subvert and exert... pressures upon us, and we ourselves shall be more willing to bear these affronts and ourselves to indulge in such methods -- in our eagerness to avoid at all costs the tragedy of open war; "peaceful" techniques will become more vital in times of pre-war softening up, actual overt war, and in times of post-war manipulation.

List of organizations, people and publications used in the Cold War Kulturkampf

Resources and References

Related Articles

• Akhavan, Bashi, Kia & Shakhsari, A Genre in the Service of Empire: An Iranian Feminist Critique of Diasporic Memoirs, ZNet, 2 February 2007.
• Hamid Dabashi, Native Informers and the Making of the American Empire, Al Ahram Weekly, 1-7 June 2006.
• Hamid Dabashi, The '300' stroke, Al Ahram Weekly, 2 - 8 August 2007. (Analysis of the film "300")
• George Monbiot, The Turks haven't learned the British way of denying past atrocities, Guardian, 27 December 2005.
• Frances Stonor Saunders, Who Paid the Piper?: The CIA and the Cultural Cold War, Granta 1999.