Propaganda, noun, “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view” (Oxford Dictionary). In the contemporary sense propaganda is always around us and is influential to our daily lives. The things we view on social media or simply on a billboard. We dove into the topic of civic imagination. Which means using known pop culture references like superheroes, or mythical creatures and use in media to also reach specific audiences. Just like the image below, displaying an original propaganda poster and a media driven poster.
In the image we are able to see Rosie the Riveter, who is a classic propaganda figure that represented women entering the workforce during World War II. In the second image we see the popular superhero figure Wonder Women conveying a similar message of working together in order to reach an overarching goal. That is what civic imagination is, using different symbols from pop culture to convey a message to a certain audience that might not have knowledge of the original will know what the message is and create change. Interesting how two different figures convey a similar message to different audiences during different periods of time.
The media is a very important aspect of outreach because it is conveying audiences. It is a way to spread a message to many people and can be a persuasive tool. Civic imagination allows for you to reach an audience other than simply the social justice and informed audience. Picture a wonder woman fan seeing the poster, it will call to their attention and they will be persuaded to look into the background of the image whether it be women empowerment, social justice or other problems that face our society today. Civic imagination opens many doors for a more involved society. It allows you to imagine a better and more positive world, overall imaging the process of change and the outcome of what a changed society might look like, a utopia, a perfect society in which we have a social connection with the larger community in which we reside and have solidarity with others from different backgrounds and experiences.
The belief that one can create change in our society though envisioning a perfect society that has already the changes we want to make. We are able to identify the issue and frame a solution. Civic imagination can overall help us become a better citizen and society as a whole. Learning how to identify and picture your favorite contemporary figures and see yourself as the person doing the change with bonding and building social capital, through sharing common experiences and sympathizing with the figure and/or symbols and also sharing meaningful messages to society through these figures. Through the lessons I learned this week on how media can be a very powerful source especially when it comes to civic imagination and how the media can be highly influential to how we view things and how we take action. It is an important aspect of the way we publish stories and a way to use civic imagination as a rhetorical tool to help overall convey a specific message.
Work Cited:
“Superpowers to the People! How Young Activists Are Tapping the Civic Imagination,” Jenkins, Shresthova, Gamber-Thompson, & Kliger-Vilenchik
Communicating Change 