Revealing and Concealing Hitler's Visual Discourse: Considering "Forbidden" Images with Rhetorics of Display

• Main Author: Donald, Matthew G
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Archive @ GSU 2012
• Subjects: Adolf Hitler; Rhetorics of display; Hitler Myth; Revealing and concealing; Visual rhetoric; Terministic screens
• Online Access: http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/english_theses/134; http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1138&context=english_theses

Typically, when considering Adolf Hitler, we see him in one of two ways: A parodied figure or a monolithic figure of power. I argue that instead of only viewing images of Hitler he wanted us to see, we should expand our view and overall consideration of images he did not want his audiences to bear witness. By examining a collection of photographs that Hitler censored from his audiences, I question what remains hidden about Hitler’s image when we are constantly shown widely circulated images of Hitler. To satisfy this inquiry, I utilize rhetorics of display to argue that when we analyze and include these hidden images into the Hitlerian visual discourse, we further complicate and disrupt the Hitler Myth. This study aims to contribute to recent scholarship that aims to learn more about the “hidden” Hitler as well as to rhetorical studies of display.