Mobilising the Masses: Appeals to Emotion in German Political Writing, 1871–1933

Description

This project uncovers how discourses of emotion shaped political messaging in Imperial and Weimar Germany (1871–1933), a historical period that saw the rise of mass politics in Germany, dramatic political and social upheavals, and the popularisation of scientific discourses which, despite themselves being strongly influenced by emotionally laden ideologies, were used to underpin political claims of rationality. Building on approaches from discourse analysis and the history of emotions, this project aims to illuminate how and why complex political and scientific ideas are suffused with emotional language to promote political movements to mass audiences.

This project is structured around four case studies of political issues (race, gender, conflict, and class) that were central to major Imperial- and Weimar-era campaigns and remain urgent today. The research questions at the centre of this project are:

• What continuities and differences emerge in the language and depiction of emotion across diverse political movements and across the historical period of study?
• What role do emerging scientific discourses play in political propaganda?
• What role do gender ideologies play in how political writers reproduce, complicate, or subvert binary models of emotionality and rationality?

By addressing these questions, this research will reveal how voices from across the political spectrum, including the historically marginalised voices of women, adopted and adapted discourses of emotion and/or scientific rationality to promote their disparate aims. The findings from this project will shed light on the historical development of political communication strategies that are of continued importance in the context of the increasingly polarised and emotionally laden political messaging in today’s world.