Advertising and Avant-Gardes: A History of Concepts, 1930–1940

Abstract

The chapter takes advertising as an umbrella term for persuasive communication. Looking at screen advertising as a specific type of communication – one that is made to persuade – the documentary, educational films, and avant-garde works of the 1930s and early 1940s come into view together under the label of advertising. Focussing on the work of John Grierson, Paul Rotha, and Hans Richter, the chapter shows how debates among intellectuals, pedagogues, and artists on both sides of the Atlantic revolved around concepts of propaganda and education to promote democracy. The chapter contributes to the field of useful cinema studies by mapping the transnational network of people, ideas, and materials involved in using moving images as tools for shaping the human mind.