Notes 1 Introduction to ‘Ideology’ 1. Bell, unlike Francis Fukuyama, carefully avoids equating the end of ideology with utopia or near-utopia. 2 Ideology and the Paradox of Subjectivity 1. In his ‘De la Métaphysique de Kant,’ de Tracy explicitly excoriates Kant for his lack of scientific method and chides him for developing ‘the inverse of reasoning’ in the Critique of Pure Reason (cited in Kennedy 1978, 118–19). 2. In ‘The Poet,’ Emerson calls for a radical poetic aesthetic that would eschew the artificial constraints of meter and adopt an ‘organic form.’ Interestingly, Emerson also developed the concept of the ‘oversoul,’ which owes much to Hegel’s Geist. 3. In his Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1915–17), Freud dissects the subject into three parts: super-ego, ego, and id. These correspond roughly to conscience, consciousness, and desire. The ego attempts to regulate between the super-ego and the id. 4. Freud fails to suggest, however, that religion fulfills its ostensible moral purpose: ‘in every age immorality has found no less support in religion than morality has’ (1964, 68). 5. Zizek distinguishes between cynicism – the classic ideological response to social reality – and ‘kynicism,’ the ‘popular, plebian rejec- tion of the official culture by means of irony and sarcasm’ (1989, 29). In the latter instance, subjects appeal not to reason, but to parody. The subject mocks the gravity of official doctrine by exposing the self-interest of the principals. Saturday Night Live and Mad TV, for example, lampoon the ultra-earnestness of political candidates through caricature. In one such skit, Bill Clinton’s famous empathy (‘I feel your pain’) is undercut by a portrait in which he cannot restrain his sexual impulses for even a moment. 3 Ideology and Institutional Authority 1. In the late twentieth century, a burgeoning natural birth movement – spawned in large part by midwives and feminist critiques of the male- dominated realm of obstetrics – questioned both the routine use of the 169 170 Notes supine position and the over-application of Caesarean sections that resulted from such procedures. Consequently, larger numbers of contemporary women are opting for squatting or other natural labors. Interestingly, however, the trend applies much more to afflu- ent and educated women than to other socio-economic groups. 2. Some women, of course, did lie on their backs for labor and delivery. The current natural child birth philosophy holds that the best pos- ition coincides with the mother’s comfort and not with any uniform medical practice or recommendation. Interestingly, in 2001 The Royal College of Obstetricians documented that only 52% of deliveries were natural – the others being induced, Caesarean, or instrument-aided – (Drudge 2001), and the Royal College’s Induction of Labour Guideline Group claimed that many Caesarean sections occurred for ‘social’ rather than medical reasons (2001). 3. Midwifery, of course, never completely faded in the West, and the absolute institutionalization of the supine position did not occur until hospitalization became the standard in the twentieth century. 4. In his Quodlibeta Septem (1320), William of Occam, an English philoso- pher, postulated that ‘entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.’ 5. In this text, Rousseau anticipates Marx’s theories about private prop- erty establishing the foundations of social inequality. 6. To recognize the saliency of Marx’s point, one need only recall the circumstances of the American Revolution, which drew heavily on French rhetoric and ideas, and its roots in populist tax disputes. 7. For further discussion of Gramsci, see Moyra Haslett’s Marxist Literary and Cultural Theories (2000), chapter 2. 8. That Lukács later retracted his position in History and Class Con- sciousness is irrelevant to the study at hand, for the influence of his theories was immediate and widespread. 9. Both sides, of course, chastised various courts for their decisions to include or exclude ballots, and charges of ‘subjective’ (read political) legal interpretation abound. 10. Besides Adorno and Marcuse, the Frankfurt School, whose prolific members theorized from the 1930s to the 1970s, included such lumi- naries as Walter Benjamin, Max Horkheimer, and Friedrich Pollack. 11. See Mark Currie’s Postmodern Narrative Theory (1998) and John Brannigan’s New Historicism and Cultural Materialism (1998) for extended discussions of Foucault’s changing methodology. 12. See Brannigan for an extensive analysis of New Historicism. 13. Julian Wolfreys extensively covers Derrida’s project in Deconstruc- tion•Derrida (1998). 14. Obviously, space considerations limit discussion of this complex subject. For further information see Ruth Robbins’ Literary Feminisms (2000). 4 Political Ideology 1. In The Faces of Janus: Marxism and Fascism in the Twentieth Cen- tury (2000), Gregor makes the provocative argument that fascism is Notes 171 remarkably similar to communism in its philosophical underpin- nings. Roger Griffin further claims that fascism ‘is directly opposed to conservatism’ and ‘set[s] out to create a new type of total culture’ (2002, 1). 2. One strategy that combined both elements involved Holocaust revi- sionism. In the early to mid-1990s, college newspapers across the United States received full-page advertisements, complete with footnotes, that claimed the Holocaust to be an elaborate hoax. Many campuses refused to run the advertisements, but many did, often with disclaim- ers that cited first amendment rights as the basis of their decision to display the proclamations. 3. Smith, who killed three people and wounded nine others, claimed that he had been influenced by Hale’s arguments. Hale denied advocating violence. 4. William Godwin anticipates Proudhon in his Enquiry Concerning Polit- ical Justice and Its Influence on Modern Morals and Happiness (1791): ‘No man must encroach upon my province, nor I upon his’ (1985, 198). In critiquing the social contract, Godwin comes to the conclusion that humans must be guided by their own understanding, as compulsory law approximates ‘external slavery’ (200). Even positive laws are ulti- mately injurious, for they substitute self-interest for reason. 5. Ernest Haeckel coined the word ‘ecology’ in the nineteenth century, during the midst of the industrial revolution. Haeckel’s term refers to the relationship of flora and fauna with their organic and inorganic environments. 6. See Ruth Robbins’ Literary Feminisms for an extended discussion of feminist theory and its implications for literary study. 7. While some feminists deny the ability of men to practice feminism, the majority would include males such as Condorcet, John Stuart Mill, and Charles Fourier as important feminist thinkers. 8. Abigail Adams unsuccessfully petitioned her husband to word the Constitution explicitly to grant full rights of citizenship to women. 9. The proposed constitutional amendment failed to be ratified by the minimum number of states (38) required. 5 Toni Morrison’s Sula and Subjective Ideology 1. Denise Heinze, for instance, implies that the Bottom functions as a ‘character’ unto itself (1993, 125). 2. In Tarrying with the Negative (1993), Zizek reconfigures his famous phrase ‘Enjoy your symptom!’ as ‘Enjoy your nation as yourself!’ (200). While Zizek concerns himself with national identity, he allows room for interpreting ‘nation’ in a broader sense than that conveyed by terms such as ‘state,’ ‘government,’ or ‘sovereignty.’ Zizek’s reference to com- munity as a ‘shared relationship toward a Thing’ suggests that a nation is not confined to geo-political boundaries (201). The Bottom, then, while maintaining an adjunct status to Medallion, might profitably be viewed as a national entity. 172 Notes 3. Sula’s enigmatic presence parallels that of the title character of Morrison’s Beloved. In both books, the non-recognition of the ‘stain’ results in a dissolution of community. 4. The Bottom’s economic structure is dependent on the caprice of the white community, which dangles the prospect of the tunnel before the men, only to replace the fantasy of self-sufficiency with sporadic menial jobs. With the exception of Shadrack, all of the town’s men seem to flee or else are ‘superficial, immature, untrustworthy, [or] anonymous’ (Samuels and Hudson-Weems 1990, 46). 5. One might make the case that Sula functions not as scapegoat but as scapegrace. Feng posits that Sula represents a ‘masculine’ ideology and ‘assumes the prerogatives of a man’ (1998, 92). Sula herself signi- fies on Sojouner Truth’s ‘ain’t I a woman,’ claiming ‘I’m a woman and colored. Ain’t that the same as being a man?’ (Morrison 1973, 142). 6. Notice that Morrison contrasts Sula’s torpid sexuality with Nel’s impassioned subjectivity, casting off the third-person perspective for a direct look into Nel’s consciousness. For Nel, Sula is truly an object. 6 William Faulkner’s ‘Barn Burning’ and Institutional Ideology 1. Some readers may object to the pairing of Eagleton and Bakhtin as a naïve critical maneuver that ignores the differences between the two. I certainly acknowledge that such incongruities exist. However, both Eagleton’s definition of ideology and Bakhtin’s concept of polyphony seem to make allowances for one another. Eagleton intimates that a text contains – and produces – a multiplicity of ideological ‘absences,’ a phenomenon suggestive of polyphony. In arguing for polyphony, moreover, Bakhtin scolds critics who ‘are enslaved by the content of individual heroes’ ideological views,’ a perspective that Eagleton echoes (Bakhtin 1984a, 8–9). The analogy ultimately breaks down, of course, but it is undeniably useful for describing ‘Barn Burning’ and ideology. 2. Bakhtin’s application of polyphony as it referred to Dostoevski was predicated on a pantextual reading of the writer’s works. Space limita- tions prohibit such a project here, but Faulkner’s fictive universe certainly would allow for similar consideration. Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily,’ for instance, in part portrays the effects of economic obsoles- cence on the title character, a formerly affluent woman whose well-being now depends on the charity – sans the name – of one of the town’s prominent citizens.