Is there an hidden etymological sense in the ''fascist beast'' propaganda figure ?

[BaronNoir]

I mean by there why the Soviet Union used the expression fascist beast (fascist, okay, but beast ?) At least in French, and presumably in English, metaphors like this evoke the beast of Babylon, not exactly an acceptable allusion in Soviet Russia....

 

[The Balbinater]

It's a typical propaganda element used by all the combatants of world war two...check this out -->

Notice the "Russian Bear" more closely resembles a "Russian Rat"...

It's a means by which you can get your soldiers to engage the enemy simply be dehumanizing them.

 

[BaronNoir]

Yeah, but a beast in general is different than a specific animal (IE, the Gallic, err, cock massacring the Prussian eagle made perfect sense)

 

[HuzzButt]

Yeah, but a beast in general is different than a specific animal (IE, the Gallic, err, cock massacring the Prussian eagle made perfect sense)

It's likely a reference to revelation. Invoking a biblical theme is helpful in conveying a message to an ill-educated in profane matters but in sacred matters somewhat literate. The more convoluted references such as coq requires conveying that narrative prior.

 

[Pero Coveilha]

I was about to refer to a Brecht quote, but it seems to be more complicated than that : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bête_immonde

 

[JodelDiplom]

I mean by there why the Soviet Union used the expression fascist beast (fascist, okay, but beast ?) At least in French, and presumably in English, metaphors like this evoke the beast of Babylon, not exactly an acceptable allusion in Soviet Russia....

A beast is a large, unthinking animal. More or less. Perhaps also dangerous. You approach it with caution and you don't try to reason with beasts. You kill beasts. That's the message?

 

[Graf Zeppelin]

I dunno about Russian but in German beast (Bestie) is also used to describe extreme brutality.

 

[Pyoro]

I dunno about Russian but in German beast (Bestie) is also used to describe extreme brutality.

True. A "Bestie" would be a powerful/vicious animal (similar to "monster" also), or a human that's perhaps so deranged that they are the same (like a serial killer; they often get names like "Die Bestie von...". Also like "Das Monster von..."). "Biest" not so much though. Might be applied for animals, but for humans it'd be the equivalent of what English speakers use female dogs for ^^

Which presumably is why "The Beauty and the Beast" is translated as "Die Schöne und das Biest", and not "...und die Bestie". Or maybe the title came first? Who knows...

I think that just shows that you really need to be native speaker and preferably from the time period to figure out all the nuanced connotations such a word might have in these contexts ^^;

 

[Andre Bolkonsky]

There is an excellent scene in War and Peace:

Pierre Buzhukov is sitting in his palatial Moscow home - drunk on Freemasonry and alcohol and using some variant of Jewish Gematriya - and adding up all the words in Napoleon's speech he comes up with '666' and decides there and then Napoleon is the prophesied 'Beast'. Pierre's plan is to get even drunker, hide behind a door, and blow Napoleon's head off. That's the Peace path.

The War path, of course, involves Andrei Bolkonsky dying of wounds incurred making a heroic cavalry charge at the Battle of Borodino.

Fairly easy to see which side Tolstoy advocated as the most effective.

Whether or not 'Beast' in this manner applies to Fascism is debatable, but I can only imagine that it is just a loaded word that makes for effective propoganda.

 

[BaronNoir]

It's a typical propaganda element used by all the combatants of world war two...check this out -->

View attachment 329333

Notice the "Russian Bear" more closely resembles a "Russian Rat"...

It's a means by which you can get your soldiers to engage the enemy simply be dehumanizing them.

I might be overthinking it, but I'm not sure the message about trying to bludgeon a bear with a cudgel was without mixed undertones.

A bear, when he is not named Paddington or Winnie, is usually one of two things
A)A cute and fluffy cub
B)The mommy of A), about to tear your head off.

 

[wingo]

In Slavic languages zver can mean simply "animal", but when used to label a human being, it means he/they are brutal, inhuman and dangerous, you want to protect yourself and your family from them because they will be brutal and show no mercy or remorse. No further explanations needed AFAIK.
Zverstvo (zver=beast) as an act is an act of excessive brutality, against humanity, inhuman treatment = who did it cannot qualify as a human being and needs to be stopped.

 

[JodelDiplom]

I might be overthinking it, but I'm not sure the message about trying to bludgeon a bear with a cudgel was without mixed undertones.

A bear, when he is not named Paddington or Winnie, is usually one of two things
A)A cute and fluffy cub
B)The mommy of A), about to tear your head off.

You are definitely overthinking it

 

[BaronNoir]

You are definitely overthinking it

I mean, a wolf vs bear battle, the outcome is quite...forgone ?

(1) Which is quite in the realm of fantasy, since wolves are not imbeciles

 

[Andre Bolkonsky]

I mean, a wolf vs bear battle, the outcome is quite...forgone ?

(1) Which is quite in the realm of fantasy, since wolves are not imbeciles

All analogies are suspect.

A wolf would never fight a bear. WOLVES on the other hand . . . .

 

[Klausewitz]

Maybe this play into it?