Summary
The article “The Ideological Use of Meta-pictures and Visualized Meta-texts in Iconography of the Cultural Revolution” by Francesca Dal Lago delves into the use of meta-pictures and visualized meta-texts within the context of the cultural revolution of China in order to showcase how their use enabled Mao Zedong to better connect with what he termed as “the illiterate masses” by providing a medium by which his message of cultural revolution against the elite in power at the time could be conveyed (Dal Lago 168-169).
The paper explained that the use of “visualized language” and pictures within pictures is actually not a new concept within the context of delivering messages to the masses of China; rather, it is actually recurrent feature in Chinese art and text (Dal Lago 170).
Taking this into consideration, it can thus be seen that in order to bring about the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Zedong utilized a culturally familiar means of delivering his message of “equality to the people” in a way that has been effective in the past in influencing Chinese social thought.
Examination
When going over the work of Dal Lago, it can be seen that the use of visualized language within the context of the Cultural Revolution can be considered as a form of propaganda utilized on a massive scale using modern day printing technology.
The ubiquitous nature of the visual mediums espousing the message of Mao along with the manner in which they were crafted (i.e. appealing to values that were in tune to what the masses wanted) enabled the dissemination of new socio-political ideologies that were meant to influence people towards the ideological thinking of Zedong.
Dal Lago presents various examples such as the use of a portrait of an interior minister deep in thought while holding an unlit pipe and its subsequent replication in other paintings.
From a certain perspective, this use of paintings within paintings can be considered a Chinese version of iconography which is prevalent in various forms of classical European artwork wherein there is the subtle use of religious themes, representations and other similar symbols which are meant to showcase how a particular work is connected to a greater whole of work reflecting a particular type of social and religious thought.
However, as presented in the case of Dal Lago, the Chinese version of symbolism and iconography is more “literal” in the sense that instead of utilizing hidden or passive symbolism as seen in the case of European artwork, what is done is a more “active” representation of a particular ideological belief by presenting a smaller yet almost exact duplicate of a particular symbolic piece of propaganda in another artwork.
This is a rather unique method of propaganda promotion in that it builds upon the previous impact of the first artwork and utilizes the intended message of that piece in an entirely new piece of art. One way of seeing the uniqueness of this method of presentation can be seen in the way in which the U.S. utilized visual language propaganda during World War 2.
The now famous “Rosie the Riveter” image was utilized extensively in the case of the U.S. during World War 2 as a means of fostering positive attitudes of the general populace towards the war and having women take pride in their jobs.
Other famous types of visual propaganda at the time which are arguably as famous as Mao Zedong’s portrait in China can be seen in the “Uncle Sam” portrait which features an old man with white hair (meant to symbolize Abraham Lincoln to a certain extent) pointing outwards at the viewer with the slogan “we want you!” as a means of eliciting them to enlist.
What differentiates this method of visual propaganda with the Chinese version was that neither “Rosie the Riveter” or “Uncle Sam” were featured within other forms of propaganda art at the time.
Rather, for new types of propaganda message, it was often the case that entirely new pieces of visualized language were created with little in the way of “active symbolism” that can be seen in the reproduction of artwork within artwork as seen in the case of China.
What this shows is that the visual representation of propaganda and cultural ideologies within the context of China’s propaganda artwork is unique. For example, Dal Lago in his concluding statements in the article presents the Han Baoku poster where people viewed the incomplete “dazibao” yet know what it represents and what it is supposed to be.
This means of showcasing a familiar symbolic piece yet showcasing how it was being created and represented creates a setting where viewers are “invited into entering the picture” (Dal Lago 191).
By presenting what can be defined as a “utopian image” in the pictures and using pictures within pictures that have been utilized extensively in the past, Dal Lago presents the notion that this creates a means of “bringing people into the ideology” by creating a series of images that appeal to the people without outright explaining their meaning through rigorous text.
This method of visual propaganda that was created by Mao Zedong can definitely be considered effective since he was able to appeal to the “illiterate masses” in a manner that could be immediately understood instead of relying on extensive verbal arguments that could have been forgotten or not even understood.
Works Cited
Francesca Dal Lago, “The Ideological Use of Metapictures and Visualized Metatexts in Iconography of the Cultural Revolution,” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 21.2 (2009): 167-97.