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Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of beauty and the moral value of art, so aestheticization as propaganda is the process of presenting any form of behaviour considered dangerous or threatening as an acceptable means of promoting a political aim, for example violence that may involve injury or death. Image File history File links Information_icon. ... Shortcut: WP:WIN Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia and, as a means to that end, also an online community. ... Shortcut: WP:CU Marking articles for cleanup This page is undergoing a transition to an easier-to-maintain format. ... This Manual of Style has the simple purpose of making things easy to read by following a consistent format — it is a style guide. ... Semiotics, or semiology, is the study of signs and symbols, both individually and grouped in sign systems. ... Semiotics (also spelled Semeiotics) is the study of signs and sign systems. ... Biosemiotics (bios=life & semion=sign) is a growing field that studies the production, action and interpretation of signs in the physical and biologic realm, in an attempt to integrate the findings of scientific biology and semiotics to form a new view of life and meaning as immanent features of the... In semiotics, the concept of a code is of fundamental importance. ... Computational semiotics is an interdisciplinary field that applies, conducts, and draws on research in logic, mathematics, the theory and practice of computation, formal and natural language studies, the cognitive sciences generally, and semiotics proper. ... This word has distinct meanings in logic, philosophy, and common usage. ... In semiotics, the process of interpreting a message sent by the addresser to the addressee is called decoding. ... In semiotics, denotation is the surface or literal meaning encoded to a signifier, and the definition most likely to appear in a dictionary. ... In semiotics, the process of creating a message for transmission by the addresser to the addressee is called encoding. ... In the lexicon of a language, lexical words or nouns refer to things. ... In semiotics, modality refers to the particular way in which the information is to be encoded for presentation to humans, i. ... Because too much data can cause “cognitive clutter”, individuals need a system to enable them to rank available data in terms of its immediate importance. ... In semiotics, a sign is generally defined as, ...something that stands for something else, to someone in some capacity. ... A sign relation is the basic construct in the theory of signs, or semiotic theory, as developed by Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914). ... In semiotics, a sign relational complex is a generalization of a sign relation that allows for empty components in the elementary sign relations, or sign relational triples of the form (object, sign, interpretant). ... Semiosis is any form of activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, including the production of meaning. ... Semiosphere is the sphere of semiosis in which the sign processes operate in the set of all interconnected Umwelts. ... Semiotic literary criticism, also called literary semiotics, is the approach to literary criticism informed by the theory of signs or semiotics. ... In logic, mathematics, and semiotics, a triadic relation or a ternary relation is an important special case of a polyadic or finitary relation, one in which the number of places in the relation is three. ... Umwelt (from the German umwelt, environment) according to Jakob von Uexküll and Thomas A. Sebeok is the biological foundations that lie at the very epicenter of the study of both communication and signification in the human [and non-human] animal. ... In semiotics, the value of a sign depends on its position and relations in the system of signification and upon the particular codes being used. ... In semiotics, the commutation test is used to identify the value or signficance of any of the signifiers used in the material to be analysed. ... In semiotics paradigmatic analysis is analysis of paradigms rather than surface structure (syntax) as in syntagmatic analysis, often made through commutation tests, comparisons of words chosen with absent words, words of the same type or class but not chosen. ... In semiotics syntagmatic analysis is analysis of syntax or surface structure (Syntagmatic structure), rather than paradigms as in paradigmatic analysis. ... Roland Barthes Roland Barthes (November 12, 1915 – March 25, 1980) (pronounced ) was a French literary critic, literary and social theorist, philosopher, and semiotician. ... Marcel Danesi is known for his work in language, communications, and semiotics, being Professor of Semiotics and Communication Theory at the University of Toronto, Canada. ... Saussure Ferdinand de Saussure (pronounced ) (November 26, 1857 – February 22, 1913) was a Geneva-born Swiss linguist whose ideas laid the foundation for many of the significant developments in linguistics in the 20th century. ... Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (born January 5, 1932) is an Italian medievalist, semiotician, philosopher and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa) and his many essays. ... Louis Hjelmslev (October 3, 1899 - May 30, 1965) was a Danish linguist whose ideas formed the basis of the Danish School in linguistics. ... Roman Osipovich Jakobson (October 11, 1896 - July 18, 1982) was a Russian thinker who became one of the most influential linguists of the 20th century by pioneering the development of structural analysis of language, poetry, and art. ... Roberta Kevelson was the #1 authority on the pragmatism theories of Charles Sanders Peirce, and an authority on Semiotics in general. ... Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse), (September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American polymath, physicist, and philosopher, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... Thomas Albert Sebeok (born in Budapest, Hungary, on November 9, 1920, died December 21, 2001 in Bloomington, Indiana) was one of the most prolific and wide-ranging of US semioticians. ... The aestheticization of violence in high culture art or mass media is the depiction of violence in a manner that is “stylistically excessive in a significant and sustained way” so that the audience is able to connect references from the play of images and signs” to artworks, genre conventions, cultural... The Semiotics of Ideal Beauty examines whether there can ever be an objective measurement of beauty or whether the concept and appreciation of beauty will always remain in flux as cultures evolve and establish new standards of physical attractiveness. ... The Parthenons facade showing an interpretation of golden rectangles in its proportions. ... Socrates (central bare-chested figure) about to drink hemlock as mandated by the court. ... Many see natural beauty in the folded petals of a rose Beauty is a quality of a person, object, place, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, affirmation, meaning, or goodness. ... A moral is a one sentence remark made at the end of many childrens stories that expresses the intended meaning, or the moral message, of the tale. ... Value in ethics is related to the theory of value. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... An Australian anti-conscription propaganda poster from World War One Propaganda is a type of message aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of people. ...

Overview

Each culture formulates mechanisms for considering the acceptability of behaviour and its outcomes. For example, utilitarianism may take the ontological view that the greatest good will be achieved for the largest number of people if violence is used in particular situations, i.e. morality as utility is expressed in the form of a cost-benefit analysis. Utilitarianism (from the Latin utilis, useful) is the ethical doctrine that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility. ... This article is about the philosophical meaning of ontology. ...

Propaganda is a method used to influence the discourse by offering alternative constructions of the paradigms of social acceptability, no matter whether the tests are described as moral, ethical, pragmatic or otherwise. Anything that is said or shown through the mass media can be true or false, sincere or dishonest, but propaganda is distinguishable from conventional types of political or religious communication. Discourse is a term used in semantics as in discourse analysis, but it also refers to a social conception of discourse, often linked with the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) and Jürgen Habermas The Theory of Communicative Action (1985). ... Since the late 1960s, the word paradigm (IPA: ) has referred to a thought pattern in any scientific discipline or other epistemological context. ...

In communication theory it is described as framing in that the words or images selected are packaged to sell an interpretation of events to a specific audience. If the framing is successful, the paradigms will expand to admit the proposed or actual violence into the class of events considered acceptable (or, in some cases, desirable). There is much discussion in the academic world of communication as to what actually constitutes communication. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Framing (psychology). ...

The aestheticization of violence for political purposes

Though many tools are available for political purposes, the threat or use of violence attracts those of a more proactive disposition as the simplest way to resolve any conflict or achieve any ends, because its strategies are well-known and weapons easily obtained. When asked to identify alternative nonviolent techniques, people find it difficult to visualise effective methods; moreover, sceptics can quickly raise moral and practical dilemmas to complicate any set of choices until violence appears the easiest option.

Thus, this topic is relevant across a spectrum of causes from those disagree about social or commercial practices within their local community, to those unhappy with the political regime in their own country, to those who believe that another country is a threat.

Nevertheless, a person or group wishing to use violence as a strategy must overcome objections from both prospective supporters and the other interested parties. No cause will prosper until the majority agrees with the justifications offered for the decision to use force, because all who adopt aggressive strategies require emotional and logistical support from the local community for success.

Hence, the aestheticization process is used to direct the audience's interpretation of events by shifting the values of the lexical words used to minimise consideration of the moral, ethical or other costs. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell proposed that the means to achieve complete control of people's minds or their ability to think rationally about the issues at stake is to invent a new language, more primitive and less articulate than current "oldspeak". That is the intention of aestheticization. It seeks to subvert the rationality of the current paradigms through doublespeak and goodthink, and to persuade the majority that the use of violence in the particular context is not merely necessary or expedient, but just and glorious in the prosecution of higher ideals. In semiotics, the value of a sign depends on its position and relations in the system of signification and upon the particular codes being used. ... In the lexicon of a language, lexical words or nouns refer to things. ... Nineteen Eighty-Four (commonly abbreviated to 1984) is a dystopian novel by the English writer George Orwell, first published by Secker and Warburg in 1949. ... Eric Arthur Blair (June 25, 1903[1][2] – January 21, 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ...

Whether the use of violence is or is not justifiable is irrelevant for these purposes. The sole interest lies in the mechanism for the transfer of the particular use from the paradigm of unacceptable into the paradigm of acceptable. In contemporary terms, this brings semiotics into a position of prominence both to set the frame and to deconstruct it. Semiotics, or semiology, is the study of signs and symbols, both individually and grouped in sign systems. ...

An example of semiotic analysis

In January, 2003, the U.S. implemented a battle plan based on a concept developed at the National Defense University. Called "Shock and Awe" (see Americanism), its stated purpose was the psychological destruction of the enemy's will to fight rather than the physical destruction of his military forces. The choice of name is revealing, even at a denotative level. NASA Landsat 7 image of Baghdad, April 2, 2003. ... In semiotics, denotation is the surface or literal meaning encoded to a signifier, and the definition most likely to appear in a dictionary. ...

Shock refers to the surprise and distress caused by events and, when associated with battles, means the violent interaction of individuals or groups as they join in combat. Meanwhile, awe is an overwhelming sense of wonder or admiration that may, to a greater or lesser extent, be associated with fear. But, at a connotative level, the use of the words is intended to fulfil several distinct aims: This word has distinct meanings in logic, philosophy, and common usage. ...

In reality, the army may be going to kill large numbers of people, both combatant and non-combatant. These words are not the actions but they represent them at a symbolic level. Analysis shows that the words fall within the paradigm of lexical words signifying the emotional responses to external stimuli: responses that can only be experienced by those who are alive. The intended implication is that enemy soldiers and civilians will be so disoriented by the display of power that they will simply surrender rather than face the threatened injury or death. Hence, the enemy casualty count will be low and the immediate gains will significantly outweigh the moral, ethical or other costs of the enterprise. Action, as a concept in philosophy, is what humans can do. ... Since the late 1960s, the word paradigm (IPA: ) has referred to a thought pattern in any scientific discipline or other epistemological context. ... In the lexicon of a language, lexical words or nouns refer to things. ... Emotion, in its most general definition, is an intense neural mental state that arises subjectively rather than through conscious effort and evokes either a positive or negative psychological response . ... In pragmatics (linguistics), implication is the relationship between two statements where the truth of one suggests the truth of the other, but--distinguishing implication from entailment--does not require it. ...

All warfare involves death and destruction on a scale that may be shocking to the sensibilities of the ordinary person, so what is the value of these words? Applying the commutation test, substitutes for "shock" might be: excitement, impact, and surprise, as opposed to: scare, trauma, and upset. In semiotics, the value of a sign depends on its position and relations in the system of signification and upon the particular codes being used. ... In semiotics, the commutation test is used to identify the value or signficance of any of the signifiers used in the material to be analysed. ...

The substitutes for "awe" might be: admiration, reverence and wonder, as opposed to fear, horror, and terror. Both words are capable of signifying less appealing qualities but, by setting them in a conjoined relationship, the expectation is that they will both be given the same value. The sui generis rule applies so that second and subsequent words in a conjoined sequence define the class. Evaluating the substitutes for "shock", the degree of match as synonyms seems reasonably adjacent and the balance of connotation can be considered balanced. Look up Synonym in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

This would give the word "shock" a relatively neutral value. Since the preponderance of connotation to "awe" is positive (the negative substitutes are less directly synonymous), the relationship in the phrase is intended to invoke values suggesting a certain degree of magnificence in the technology and the manner of its delivery. Not only those on the receiving end are expected to experience awe: all external observers may be impressed by this display of power, and, perhaps, feel not a little afraid — a useful general propaganda gain.

The connotation of the word awe tends to refer to unequal power relationships, e.g. a beginner may be in awe of the skills of a professional, an ordinary mortal is in awe of a deity, etc. The implication is that this war is such an asymmetrical contest that the enemy might just as well give up before the battle is joined with such an overwhelmingly superior force.

Figurative usages provide what the semiotician Roland Barthes called a "pleasure of the text" (1970), i.e. the pleasurable reaction produced by a clever arrangement of signs. So figurative words are more memorable than literal words, particularly when used in unexpected contexts. Using this phrase in the otherwise literal context of declaring the opening of violent hostilities is incongruous and that contextualisation has made the phrase memorable, effectively displacing all the imagery of imminent death and destruction that might otherwise have dominated. Roland Barthes Roland Barthes (November 12, 1915 – March 25, 1980) (pronounced ) was a French literary critic, literary and social theorist, philosopher, and semiotician. ... In semiotics, a sign is generally defined as, ...something that stands for something else, to someone in some capacity. ... More traditional systems for analysing language divided linguistic expressions into two classes: literal and figurative. ...

Monosyllabic words wield considerable rhetorical might: they are short, punchy, and memorable. Through the careful mixing of short and long words, the impact provided by the short words stands out against the rhythmic flow provided by long words. Rhetorical theory maintains that any proposition can be expressed in a variety of ways. Rhetoric (from Greek , rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is the art or technique of persuasion, usually through the use of language. ...

Hence, when persuasion is the overriding goal, the rhetorical perspective suggests that the manner in which a statement is expressed may be more important than its propositional content. In this instance, the repetition of two sounds, a binary pair of semi-onomatopoeic words, produces hyperbole. Whether written or spoken with an appropriate intonation and body language, the phrase is memorable and serves its aestheticization function. In linguistics and poetry, onomatopoeia is the device of a word, or occasionally, a grouping of words, with a sound imitating the sound it is describing, such as bang, click, fizz, hush or buzz. Onomatopoetic words exist in every language, although they are different in each. ... Look up hyperbole in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

References

• Barthes, Roland (1970/1988), "The Old Rhetoric: An Aide-Memoire," in The Semiotic Challenge. tr. Richard Howard. New York: Hill and Wang.