Siegfried Kracauer stands out as one of the most significant
theorists and critics of the twentieth century, acclaimed for his
analyses of film and popular culture. However, his writing on
propaganda and politics has been overshadowed by the works of his
contemporaries and colleagues associated with the Frankfurt School.
This book brings
together a broad selection of Kracauer's work on media and political
communication, much of it previously unavailable in English. It
features writings spanning more than two decades, from studies of
totalitarian propaganda written in the 1930s to wartime work on Nazi
newsreels and anti-Semitism through to examinations of American and
Soviet political messaging in the early Cold War period. These varied
texts illuminate the interplay among politics, mass culture, and the
media, and they encompass Kracauer's core concerns: the individual
and the masses, the conditions of cultural production, and the
critique of modernity.
The introduction and
afterword explore the significance of Kracauer's contributions to
critical theory, film and media studies, and the analysis of
political communication both in his era and the present day. At a
time when demagoguery and bigotry loom over world politics,
Kracauer's inquiries into topics such as the widespread appeal of
fascist propaganda and the relationship of new media forms and
technologies to authoritarianism are strikingly relevant.