The Ideological Indicators of Visual Rhetoric in Propaganda Posters Produced During Wartime

Abstract

This study analyzes the construction of propaganda posters produced during wartime from formal, semantic, and ideological perspectives. It investigates the ideological meanings produced through these structures. The research is grounded in a qualitative methodological approach. A dual approach encompassing both descriptive and semiotic analysis was employed, with eight historical poster exemplars subjected to rigorous evaluation within the ambit of Roland Barthes' two-tiered semiotic model and visual rhetoric theory. The findings indicate that propaganda posters function not only as a means of disseminating information but also as a means of propagating ideology, thereby contributing to the visual construction of political discourse. The formal elements employed in the posters, including color, typography, composition, and figures, function as rhetorical strategies that guide the viewer's emotional and cognitive processes. These visual rhetorical strategies, developed during wartime in a historical context, form the basis of persuasive visual communication forms in contemporary graphic design. The present study demonstrates that formal and ideological analyses can be addressed holistically in visual communication research by revealing the relationship between propaganda posters and their historical context and aesthetic order.