Literature, Ideology, and the Imaginary

Marcello Potocco, University of Primorska

Abstract

In his paper "Literature, Ideology and the Imaginary," Marcello Potocco analyses the elusive relation between literature and ideology. The notion of the "social imaginary" -- as developed by Castoriadis -- brings the possibility to reconsider the relation between the literary structure, its reception, and ideology. While ideology is seen as a radical expression of the social imaginary in modern society, it can only manifest itself through the ideological function, which does not necessarily destruct the aesthetic experience. In a literary structure, elements may exist that enable a strong identification with the extra-textual world, but this involves primarily identifications with significations of the social imaginary. In an ideological text, affective elements play a secondary role, while conceptual-rational, and subject-material elements provide the basis for the reader's identification. An ideological structure retains a largely conventional, "pragmatic" relation between the signifiers and the signified, linking them to the social imaginary and, possibly, a uniform interpretative code. Nevertheless, the (non-)realization of the ideological function within a text always depends on the social, extra-textual codes of interpretation, since ideology can only interpellate as a socio-historical force imposed on a text.

Recommended Citation

Potocco, Marcello. "Literature, Ideology, and the Imaginary." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 11.2 (2009): http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol11/iss2/1

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