It is surprising how many accurate conclusions about the ills of civilization are formulated first by writers. Jules Verne even predicted that spaceships would be launched from Florida, Bolesław Prus understood Polish capitalism better before the elites even got to know this word, and Stanisław Lem predicted a whole series of phenomena at the interface of man and machine.
The same is true of a phenomenon so new that it has been organized on many levels, deliberately and using the latest scientific research: disinformation. Among the book analyzes that try to capture the subject, the works of Ion Pacepa (who recently died), Edward Lucas and Thomas Rida should be distinguished. And yet this gaze often lacks the intent, spirit and freedom with which institutional lies permeate societies. The above authors often describe individual disinformation operations (“Trust”, “Hitler’s Pope”, the Anna Chapman case), but sometimes miss the broadest context related to the structural lie. Will writers come to the rescue this time?
To answer this question, it is worth reading three novels.
Józef Mackiewicz, “The Road to Nowhere”
Written in 1955, the novel about everyday life under Soviet occupation is an insightful look into the communist soul – with its lies, hopelessness, terror and radical reactions to totalitarianism. The most important excerpt on disinformation here is Tadeusz’s account of the boldness of Bolshevik lies. The conversation between two friends from the Vilnius region contains a description of manipulation of an unprecedented level of insolence, of an anti-truth so extreme that it paralyzes and terrorizes the psyche. At one point, Tadeusz gives a model of how this kind of disinformation works:
For example, if you, or I, or any normal person under normal circumstances want to lie that the ceiling is not white but black, it will seem very difficult to us at first. We start circling, growling, pointing to the shadows on the corners, we will explain that in essence it is not so pure white anymore… In short, we will use a complicated method, which will not lead to the goal anyway in the end, because no one will convince you that the ceiling is black. But what are the Bolsheviks doing? They point to the ceiling and immediately say, “See this ceiling… It’s pitch black.” Point, they immediately proved that. Do you think it’s important for people that the truth is the other way around? You probably think so. And they have learned from practice that it doesn’t matter at all. All that can be asserted and that the assertion does not depend on the content, but on the way it is expressed. And here we see them go to the next stage and say to people like this, ‘Now imagine that there are vile liars, enemies of all scientific truth, progress and knowledge, who have sunk so low in their vile lies for the money of the world. capitalists that they dare to lie to living eyes that the ceiling is white!” And the assembled crowd will express their indignation and contempt and even laugh and mock at such obvious lies of these enemies of the truth… We until now believe that they can only conduct such sessions of collective hypnosis at home after previously mistreating their citizens.. Nothing comparable.
Therefore, the best liar is the one who lies spectacularly, with a panache, most blatantly.
Vladimir Volkoff, “Edit”
The French writer of Russian descent has the advantage over other authors that he was an officer in the secret service of France, so that he mainly concentrated on a mildly educational message in his novels. His books are therefore a kind of literary textbook on a particular subject, for example ‘Werbunek’ is a fictional story explaining what Józef Maria Bocheński described in his philosophical essays: that communism is a religion. But in the case of disinformation, Volkoff describes the fate of a Russian émigré and agent of influence who is concerned with shaping society to the needs of the Soviet Union. The shortest interpretation of disinformation is – again, a dialogue – between the agent and his case officer, about presenting the situation in a way that defends the guilty and accuses the victim.
How to manipulate the situation in which Ivanov caught Petrov in bed with his wife? Let’s list four of Volkoff’s ten tips.
First case: there were no witnesses. There is no way for the public to know what really happened. It is simply said that it was Petrov who caught his wife in bed with Ivanov. This is the falsehood that cannot be verified. Second. There were witnesses. You write that the marriage of the Ivanovs was not without problems, and you admit that on Saturday Ivanov surprised his wife with Petrov. It is also true, you add, that a week ago Ivanova caught her husband red-handed with Petrova. It’s a mix of true and false. The proportions of both can vary. Poison guys, if they want to make a case probable they give up to 80% true to 20% falsebecause it is important from their point of view that certain false information be accepted as true. (…) Fifth: blurring. You flood your true facts with a large amount of other information. Petrov, you say, is a Stakhanovite, he plays the organ and checkers very well, he was born in Nizhny Novgorod, he was an artilleryman during the war, he gave his mother a canary for his sixtieth birthday, he has several mistresses, including Ivanova, he loves sausages with garlic, he swims well in the backstroke, can cook Siberian pelmeni, and so on. There is also an excuse that is the opposite of obfuscation, which is selected facts. In the event that you report, make a selection of data, true but incomplete. (…) Technique number nine we call unequal parts. You address your readers and suggest that they judge the incident for themselves. You then publish one letter denouncing Ivanova – even if you get a hundred such letters. You also print ten letters in her defense, even though no more than ten have come in. (…) Finally, equal parts, tenth method. From a university professor, a brilliant polemicist favorite of readers, you order a text written in defense of loved ones, fifty lines long, and at the same time you order a condemnation of it, also fifty lines, from some village idiot. This is how you prove your impartiality.
Let us remember the anonymous stories from “Wysokie Obcasy” as “letters from readers”? Or maybe 80% of the truth, but the crucial 20% of the lies in Joanna from Krakow’s story? Or perhaps inundated with a mass of irrelevant details (information clutter) with stories about how terrible the Polish arms industry is – the reader is unable to verify even a percentage of this information for themselves.
Bronisław Wildstein “The Valley of Nothingness”
The novel, published in 2008, has some additional values for the Polish reader: it is a novel with a key, it reveals the secrets of the activities of Michnik, Urban and Maleszka, it tells about contemporary Poland and more contemporary methods of manipulation in the media. Wildstein summed up in one book the whole extent of the hypocrisy of the liberal and agent portion of “Solidarity” twinned with post-communism. He writes about the sincere suffering of deceived people, but also surprises by showing how light and how easy it is for influential people to destroy a man through a specific disinformation operation. For example, it describes the story of Andrzej Kern [w powieści pod fikcyjnym nazwiskiem Widłak]who wanted to break the salon of the Third Republic.
Lycopodium was talented, eloquent and, against the backdrop of right-wing pacans, extremely skilled. He got along with almost everyone, which was an unprecedented skill for them. He was just a politician. He was not yet fifty and walked like a storm. “He could endanger us,” the prezio said with absolute seriousness. “Have you nothing with him?” he asked Nowak. “Just a daughter,” the Colonel joked, “that’s his only non-political passion.” Prezio waved his hand, but Wickedness sensed an opportunity. When he found out that Widłak’s daughter was seventeen, he was almost certain of success. Nowak provided him with a complete set of data. The little one was fascinated by Wharton, listened to “Kult” and saw “Amelia” five times. Wickedness knew that seemingly small things matter: how she dresses, who her friends are, what places she visits and, of course, who she’s currently dating. He personally selected the candidate. Among the employees of “W ryj” he spread the rumor that he was looking for a specialist who could seduce a nun. This will result in a revealing report on femininity suppressed by the Church. The idea was received with enthusiasm and the nominations poured in. Wicked chose the gypsy. The twenties whore who supposedly “no one could resist” wasn’t even stupid. (…) The article in “W ryj” was mainly about abuse of power. Love was discreetly drawn in the background. (…) However, within a few days “Słowo” published a great article by Bogdan Szmaja, announced on the front page, describing the case of the clubbeam in a canonical way. “A cynical right-wing politician uses his influence to destroy his daughter’s lover – and his family – and doesn’t care if he ruins his child’s life. Pure love is broken by ruthless politicians with mouths full of platitudes about morality. What happened next exceeded Innocence’s wildest expectations. Almost all dailies, weeklies and magazines entered the race for the most vivid portrayal of the horror of Sławomir Widłak. (…) He became not only the most disgusting, but also the most ridiculous character.
At the end we can also add a thread with the cinema film “Agata’s Abduction”, shot in a record time of three weeks by a former secret employee of the Security Service. This story was part of the media campaign against Kern.
Modern disinformation
So when we see how Piotr Kraśko, concerned about the fate of Lukashenko’s terrorists, is called poor refugees in the TV station (cf. Volkoff’s second method), when a former drug addict spews volumes about PiS being a Russian agent (Mackiewicz’s black ceiling) or Agnieszka Holland quickly makes a movie about the evil Polish state guarding its eastern borders (cf. “The Valley of Nothingness”) it reflects the same spirit of disinformation that the writers, not the analysts, have given up.
Good novels are worth reading. They continue to protect us from stupidity, lies and plain modern evil.
Source: wPolityce