Dr Avital Avina

Dr Avital Avina specialises in political communication, propaganda, and visual culture of China.

In particular, how contemporary people ‘read’ the information in visual propaganda and how we as people removed in time and space can analyse and utilise these documents to know more about the politics and messages embedded within them. 

She received an MSc from Glasgow in Political Communication and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh in Chinese studies where she explored the gap between visual propaganda messages and actions during the Cultural Revolution, particularly when it came to female engagement in the movement. She has previously taught at Oxford, York, and Manchester.

Avital's main research focus is the intersection between politics and visual culture of China as it relates to communicating information through the visual form from leader to led. She has previously published on the use of colour grammar in political art of the PRC as well as the evolution of Health and Hygiene imagery from the early Mao era to the present COVID propaganda posters of the last few years.