The last word from the East: Chinese whispers

This article discusses the nature of truth, in the context of hyperbole as a rhetorical device, false rumours, and the size of China meaning some extraordinary claims are true.

The last word from the East: Chinese whispers

Barney LoehnisOgilvy & Mather

Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device. It may be used to stir passion and create a strong impression, but is not meant to be, though it often is, taken literally. It is easily abused.

Chinese literature such as Journey to the West– especially Communist propaganda – is full of hyperbole; its writers have always used the power of 'big' to evoke emotion and hypnotise its audiences into a zone of suspended reality. There's a quotient of complicity in the audience that...

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