Ideology... is a kind of contemporary mythology, a realm which has purged itself of ambiguity and alternative possibility.
Interpretation
Ideology simplifies complex realities into clear narratives, much like mythology does.
In this quote, Terry Eagleton suggests that ideology functions similarly to mythology in contemporary society by creating structured narratives that eliminate uncertainty and reduce the complexity of reality. This simplification allows individuals to accept certain truths without recognizing the nuances and alternative viewpoints that exist, thus shaping their understanding of the world.
In practice
In a debate about political beliefs, one might say, 'Remember, ideology is like contemporary mythology; let's keep an open mind about alternative viewpoints.'
Nations sometimes flourish by denying the crimes that brought them into being. Only when the original invasion, occupation, extermination or usurpation has been safely thrust into the political unconscious can sovereignty feel secure.
One side-effect of the so-called war on terror has been a crisis of liberalism. This is not only a question of alarmingly illiberal legislation, but a more general problem of how the liberal state deals with its anti-liberal enemies.
All communication involves faith; indeed, some linguisticians hold that the potential obstacles to acts of verbal understanding are so many and diverse that it is a minor miracle that they take place at all.
The New Testament is a brutal destroyer of human illusions. If you follow Jesus and don't end up dead, it appears you have some explaining to do. The stark signifier of the human condition is one who spoke up for love and justice and was done to death for his pains. The traumatic truth of human history is a mutilated body.
Capitalism will behave antisocially if it is profitable for it to do so, and that can now mean human devastation on an unimaginable scale. What used to be apocalyptic fantasy is today no more than sober realism.
Poetry is the most subtle of the literary arts, and students grow more ingenious by the year at avoiding it. If they can nip around Milton, duck under Blake and collapse gratefully into the arms of Jane Austen, a lot of them will.
Before we tackle the gangs and the basic story, we have to make sure that we have liberated ourselves from how we have been educated and make sure we are coming from a spirituality of our own choosing.
a man who has decided upon self-destruction is far removed from mundane affairs, and to sit down and write his will would be, at that moment, an act just as absurd as winding up oneβs watch, since together with the man, the whole world is destroyed; the last letter is instantly reduced to dust and, with it, all the postmen; and like smoke, vanishes the estate bequeathed to a nonexistent progeny.
Conflicts create the fire of affects and emotions; and like every fire it has two aspects: that of burning and that of giving light.
Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made.
Who gets up early to discover the moment light begins?
It takes time to live. Like any work of art, life needs to be thought about.
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