Brazilian Propaganda is the first English language study to uncover how the official propaganda organs justified the civilian-military regime in Brazil between 1964 and 1985. Based on a variety of sources including propaganda short films, intelligence files, and oral history interviews with key propagandists, the book contributes to our understanding of recent Brazilian politics, history, and culture. Schneider brings nuance to scholarly understanding of the Brazilian dictatorship by reconstructing internal frictions within the military regime and raising the complex question of civilian colla ... More

Brazilian Propaganda is the first English language study to uncover how the official propaganda organs justified the civilian-military regime in Brazil between 1964 and 1985. Based on a variety of sources including propaganda short films, intelligence files, and oral history interviews with key propagandists, the book contributes to our understanding of recent Brazilian politics, history, and culture. Schneider brings nuance to scholarly understanding of the Brazilian dictatorship by reconstructing internal frictions within the military regime and raising the complex question of civilian collaboration. Between 1968 and 1979 authoritarian propaganda in Brazil was multifaceted and contradictory: the official propaganda organs coexisted with other state and private propaganda-makers, all with varying intentions, strategies, and styles. Brazilian Propaganda initiates discussion of the subtle issue of degrees of perpetratorship during the civilian-military regime and offers refreshing and provocative discussion of the concept of propaganda by engaging the blurred line between state and private propaganda on one hand and authoritarian and democratic propaganda on the other. Breaking new theoretical ground by offering a holistic approach to propaganda, the book encompasses an examination of the propagandists' intentions and their campaigns' reception.