Title: Perversion of Faith
Subtitle: The Psychology of Racist Propaganda in Film
Subject Classification:  Arts, Psychology, History  
BIC Classification: AB, HB, JW
BISAC Classification: POL049000, HIS043000, PER004030
Binding: Hardback, Paperback, eBook
Publication date: 06 Aug 2024
ISBN (Hardback): 978-1-80441-641-9
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-80441-642-6
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-80441-643-3

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Description

With political disinformation rampant and antisemitism on the rise across the world, it is vital for a healthy society to better understand both racism and the propaganda that promotes it. This study highlights the role of the feature film in promoting an ideology that supports the identification of a racial enemy that can lead to political persecution and social violence. The author presents a psychological model as an explanatory framework for understanding the emotional appeal of racist propaganda. Illustrative evidence for the psychological model will be provided primarily through three feature films made by the National Socialist (Nazi) regime in Germany (1933-1945). These films provide evidence of different ways in which film was utilized to aid in the regime’s intent to wage war against its perceived enemies.

The book addresses address five major questions related to the role of propaganda in the promotion of racist ideology and social violence: 1) how can we understand the emotional basis of the ideology of racism? 2) How are these ideas translated into mass media like films, television, and the internet? 3) What is the emotional appeal of this propaganda to the committed follower and to the average citizen? 4) What is the role of propaganda in moving people from an ideology to social action including violence? 5) What might be antidotes to racist propaganda?

The book will be of interest to students and researchers in film studies, history, sociology, and cultural studies, as well as specialist Jewish Studies and Holocaust Studies centers.

Biography

Author(s):  Dr John J. Hartman is an Adjunct Professor at the University of South Florida, USA

Reviews

"Perversion of Faith is nothing short of an intellectual feast! Distinguished psychologist and psychoanalyst John J. Hartman presents an original interpretation of Nazi propaganda films, examined through the rich analytical lens of psychoanalysis, cognitive science, and social psychology. Meticulously researched, rigorously conceptualized, and passionately argued, Perversion of Faith offers a compelling demonstration of how Nazi propaganda – “pornography of the politician” - operated on the powerful undercurrents of emotion, myth, and fantasy, “appealing to the irrational, instinctual passions.” This sophisticated psychological analysis offers crucial insights not only for social scientists, but also for historians who explore connections between propaganda and genocide during World War II and beyond, thus contributing to the larger scholarship on the origins of the Holocaust. The book also resonates with urgency today, as we once again confront the dangerous global resurgence of racial prejudice, hatred, and violence. Hartman’s final chapter on strategies to counter antisemitic propaganda and disinformation should be required reading for all relevant policymakers and activists in today’s United States. Perversion of Faith ultimately stands as both a profound analysis and a stirring call to uphold ethics and rationality in the face of the destructive politics of past and present."
- Anna Cichopek-Gajraj , Associate Professor of Polish Jewish History, Arizona State University