Paper short abstract:

The paper examines the visual language of the Africa-themed posters produced in the Soviet Union, reflecting unintended messages about attitudes, misconceptions and stereotypes held by Soviet artists and their audiences and the Soviet state's aspirations to construct a model citizen-internationalist

Paper long abstract:

The Soviet Union Propaganda machine had the crucial and strategic task of asserting its ideological stance on the international arena and positioning the Soviet Union as an ideological and political ally of the African nations fighting for their liberation from colonial and other forms of oppression. Cultural diplomacy expressed via visual means in the form of propaganda posters was just one of its manifestations. It was directed not just outwards to the international allies and wider world but primarily towards Soviet State's citizens, intending to project a self-image of brotherhood, world leadership, and unity in the struggle against the oppressors and aggressors on the African continent and beyond. Hundreds of state-sanctioned images were produced over several decades reflecting not just the political agenda of the country’s leadership but capturing unintended messages about attitudes, misconceptions and stereotypes about Africa held by Soviet artists and their audiences and the aspirations (not always successful) of the Soviet state to construct a model citizen-internationalist. The paper examines the visual language employed in the posters and the revealing tropes used in the representation of the African continent and its people. The paper references ongoing research conducted on a privately-owned collection of over thirty original posters spanning thirty years from the late nineteen fifties until the nineteen-eighties and based in South Africa.