The semiotics of British print propaganda in Spain during the Second World War

Abstract

The Second World War was a total war in which belligerents, citizens, and neutrals participated either directly or indirectly. The conflict was also fought in neutral countries through diplomatic activities carried out by secret services and, notably, through the persuasion of a propaganda struggle. According to the British visual semiotician Daniel Chandler, semiotics is the study of signs and signification—the study of how meanings are made and how reality is represented or reconstructed. In his words, semiotics is a “way of looking at the production of meaning from a particular critical perspective.” From early 1939, overseas publicity became Britain's main concern; according to Cole, this was largely due to British messages being crafted to develop “an alignment of forces against Germany” in the military and propaganda struggle. The magazine continued to present the contrasts between Britain and Germany with comparisons between cities, societies, and governments.