The Effects of LDS Pubic Affairs Campaigns on the Perception of Mormonism from 2001-2015

Authors

Abby Eyre, Brigham Young University
John Waltz, Brigham Young University

Keywords

LDS public affairs, campaigns, Mormonism

College

Fine Arts and Communications

Department

Communications

Abstract

The French have found Mormons fascinating since 1860. Jules Verne depicted Mormons as utopian menaces in his 1863 novel Paris in the 20th Century¹, French cartoonists illustrated polygamous and mixed-race Mormon couples as satire, and French outcasts occupied Nauvoo after the great Mormon exodus west. In the time since the early days of the American church, little changed regarding the perception of Mormons until the internet allowed real-time flow of information. My own experience as a missionary and as an intern in France piqued my interest in how French people viewed Mormons. I met people who had never heard of Mormons, people who immediately assumed I was Amish (despite using a smartphone) and people whose only experience with a Mormon was following Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. This diverse misunderstanding of Mormons mixed with several professors’ research which I had previously read led me to question the sources and reasons behind the French view of Mormonism. This study focuses on the perception of Mormons in France over 15 prominent years in contemporary Mormon history, 2001-2015.

Recommended Citation

Eyre, Abby and Waltz, John (2018) "The Effects of LDS Pubic Affairs Campaigns on the Perception of Mormonism from 2001-2015," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2018: Iss. 1, Article 87.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2018/iss1/87