Enlightenment in Western and Islamic Traditions

Enlightenment in Western and Islamic Traditions Which tradition provides greater Enlightenment? In the world we live, we are always faced with conflicting ideologies that influence our thinking. This is certainly true about Islam and secularism. In my case and in the case of most Muslim individuals who live in a modern society, society sometimes demands us to reject secular Western values and follow Islamic values and vice versa. Due to such conflicting influences on our thinking, we are sometimes confused as to which tradition to adopt as a transcendental decision: the Islamic tradition or the Western tradition? To help decide which tradition to follow, I am going to investigate which tradition provides greater enlightenmen. I will do this by breaking the paper into the following parts: General concept and definition of the word enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment in the West. Enlightenment in Islam. Successes and Failures of enlightenment in the West. Why Islam is more enlightened than the Western ideology of enlightenment and should be promoted? General concept and definition of the word enlightenment The word ‘enlightenment has many different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. If we look at the literal meaning of the word enlightenment, we will find that it comes from the verb to lighten. The prefix ‘en means to make or become and the suffix ‘ment means a state of being. Therefore if we join the components of the word ‘enlightenment together, we will find that it literally means to become brightened. However the broad definition of the word ‘enlightenment according to most cultures and societies is â€Å"the acquisition of new wisdom or understanding† (Wikipedia, 2006, Enlightenment (concept) section,  ¶1). If we look at this definition, we will find it is very similar to the literal definition of enlightenment. When we say a person has become brightened, we mean he has become wiser (more intelligent) or has acquired new wisdom. In general, there are two different concepts of enlightenment: religious/spiritual enlightenment and intellectual/secular enlightenment. Both concepts of enlightenment are strong opposites of each other. This is why most people that believe in secular enlightenment often reject religious enlightenment and vice versa. Secular enlightenment is enlightenment that is not regarded as religious, spiritual or sacred, whereas religious enlightenment is the opposite. According to Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher of the enlightenment, the Enlightenment was the period in the development of European civilization when â€Å"Mankind grew out of its self-inflicted immaturity† (as cited in Davies, 1996, p.596) or it is â€Å"mans release from his self-incurred tutelage.† (as cited in Duprà ©, 2004, p.1). The concept of Secular enlightenment was important in Europe during the 18th century, because it caused a dramatic change in the everyday thinking of Europeans. The characteristics of Secular enlightenment were the rejection of old dogmatic beliefs, which were replaced with the belief in reason as a measure over all things. The Enlightenment was in fact the intellectual movement that advocated this concept. The Age of Enlightenment in the West The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in American and European philosophy or according to some scholars it also includes the seventeenth century and the Age of Reason. This was the period where innovative and intellectual ideas were being propagated so as to challenge traditional dogmatic ideas and beliefs. During this period an intellectual movement known as The Enlightenment advocated reason as a method to investigate and study all the various scientific fields, which included the social sciences (aesthetics, ethics, philosophy, logic, economics), literature and natural sciences (physics, biology, chemistry). They believed this would allow human beings to obtain objective truth about the universe.The main figures of the enlightenment were Descartes, Pascal, Bayle, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau. Among them Denis Diderot was one of the first people to propose the six fundamental principles on which enlightenment are based in his Encyclopedie. The first principle was strong belief in human reasoning to the point, where it was considered the best measure over everything. The second principle was the belief in a Supreme Being (God), who is exalted over everything. However these enlightened thinkers also believed that God did not intervene with nature. The third principle was the rejection or less significance given to religious values and metaphysics. The fourth principle was the belief that secularism, which is the separation of the church and state, is better. The fifth principle was the strong belief in the scientific method, which lead to extreme materialism. The last principle was the expectation of unlimited progress. Enlightenment in Islam Even though in Islam there is no concept of enlightenment, Islam came as an enlightened religion and way of life for the whole humanity. During the time the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born, which was in the year 570 A.D., the whole world lived in the Dark Ages. Belief in superstitions, myths, common practices of black magic, idolatry (polytheism) and paganism was common. One of the major concerns of that time was the loss and alteration of the original Holy Scriptures such as the Bible and Torah and the increased power of the Church, which dictated its own version of religion and was mainly responsible for altering the Holy Scriptures. In Arabia polytheism and paganism was the dominant religion of the Arabs. Ignorance towards science and illiteracy were rampant among the people. The Holy Kaabah, which was built by Prophet Abraham and Ishmael was filled with hundreds of idols. Also dark customs and traditions such as the female infanticide and ritual gambling (Maysir) on camels were common. When the Prophet Muhammad started his mission of preaching Islam, which was propagating the Oneness and Unity of God (monotheism), he was met with extreme resistance. However as he kept his preaching consistent with the same rigor, the number of his followers increased dramatically till they were able to completely change the cultures of Arabia and the rest of the world. Islam brought enlightenment in the Arab world by positively changing the dark customs and attitudes of society such as abolishing female infanticide, slavery, gambling and alcohol addiction. Islam also brought justice and provided human rights for each individual. In Islam, the life and property of all citizens in an Islamic state are considered sacred, whether Muslim or not. Islam also protects the honor of every individual. It does not allow insulting or making fun of others. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had said: â€Å"Truly your blood, your property, and your honor are inviolable† (as cited in Ibrahim, 1997, p.61). Islam also abolished Racism and brought human equality. The Quraan speaks of human equality in the following words: â€Å"O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female and have made you into nations and tribes for you to know one another. Truly, the noblest of you with God is the most pious. Truly, God is All-Knowing, All-Aware† (1997, p.61). Islam rejects that an individual is superior to another individual by his wealth, power or race. God created human beings as equal to one another. One is only better than the other if he has greater faith or piety (taqwa). A person who greater taqwa is one who prevents himself from all types of sins, performs good deeds that God commands us to do, and fears and loves God. Concerning equality our Prophet Muhammad also said: â€Å"O people! Your God is one and your forefather (Adam) is one. An Arab is not better than a non-Arab and a non-Arab is not better than an Arab, and a red (i.e. white tinged with red) person is not better than a black person and a black person is not better than a red person, except in piety† (1997, p.62). Concerning the status of women, Islam has from the very beginning given women equal rights as men. In the Holy Quraan, God says â€Å"O Mankind, keep your duty to your Lord who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate (of same kind) and from them twain has spread a multitude of men and women† (as cited in Badawi, 1971, p.11). El-Khouly Al-Bahiy, a scholar who pondered about this verse states: â€Å"It is believed that there is no text, old or new, that deals with the humanity of the women from all aspects with such amazing brevity, eloquence, depth, and originality as this divine decree† (1971, p.11). In other verses, the Quraan also expresses clear-cut evidence about the equality of women such as: â€Å"†¦So their Lord accepted their prayers, (saying): I will not suffer to be lost the work of any of you whether male or female. You will proceed one from another†¦.† (1971, p.13). Also, according to the Quraan, woman is not solely blame d for Adams mistake of eating from the forbidden tree in Paradise. Both Adam and Eve jointly committed the mistake, repented and were forgiven by God. Concerning religious obligations in Islam such as praying, fasting, giving charity and pilgrimage, women are no different than men. In fact, in some cases women are more exempted from obligatory duties than men. When a woman has menstrual periods or is pregnant during the past forty days, she is exempted from fasting and prayers. Concerning the pre-Islamic custom of burying female infants alive at birth, the Quraan clearly forbids it and considers it a crime like murder. It is said in the Quraan concerning this crime: â€Å"When news is brought to one of them, of (the Birth of) a female (child), his face darkens and he is filled with inward grief! With shame does he hide himself from his people because of the bad news he has had! Shall he retain her on (sufferance) and contempt, or bury her in the dust? Ah! What an evil (choice) they decide on?† (1971, p. 15). Another reason why Islam is an enlightened religion is because of the greatness of the Quraan in terms of its scientific soundness and being the best masterpiece of Arabic literature. The Quraan was not authored by the Prophet as he was illiterate and did not possess the intelligence shown by the Quraan. The Holy Quraan was only authored by God. The Prophet Muhammad only received divine revelation from God and then communicated it to his people. Concerning the soundness of scientific facts, the Quraan mentions some scientific miracles that have been discovered recently in the past 100 years, even though the Quraan was revealed 1400 years ago. For example, the Quraan speaks about the stages of embryonic development: â€Å"We have created man from an extract of clay, Then made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah (leech, suspended thing, and blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed substance)†¦.† (as cited in Ibrahim, 1997, p.6). The scientific details expressed in this verse were put forward to Professor Emeritus Keith L.Moore. Dr. Keith Moore is one of the worlds most leading scientists in the field of anatomy and embryology. He was impressed after studying and conducting scientific research on them and when present at the Seventh Medical Conference in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, he said â€Å"It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify s tatements in the Quraan about human development. It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God, because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later. This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of God† (1997, p.10). He also said that the Quraan must be the word of God and proposed that a new system of classification could be developed on embryonic knowledge using the Quraan and Sunnah (traditions). Other scientific miracles that the Quraan mentions are about the origins of the universe, that the heavens and earth were one connected entity, that there is a barrier between two different seas when they meet, that the mountains are pegs that stabilize the crust of the earth and that as you go deeper down the sea it gets darker. Successes and Failures of Enlightenment in the West The successes of enlightenment were of great benefit to humanity. The enlightenments principle of using reason (logos), observation and experience to explain phenomena around us contributed to the rapid advancement of the natural sciences such as the discovery of physical laws (e.g. gravity) that govern the universe, space exploration and genetic engineering. The advancement in the natural sciences in turn led to a better standard of living for mankind for example: the invention of fractional distillation led to a greater production of petrol and gasoline which led to more efficient and convenient means of transport such as cars. Enlightenment also led to advancement in the social sciences such as Economics. The concept that free markets maximize welfare in an economy and determine the best allocation of resources, as proposed by Adam Smith in his book The Wealth of Nations, was an example of the successes resulting from enlightenment. Some of the other fruits of enlightenment were the rule of law and liberal democracies. Despite all these successes that resulted from enlightenment, there were even greater failures resulting from enlightenment. Most of the six elements of enlightenment led to some failure. The principle that logos (reason) is a measure over all things was overestimated as reasoning could not comprehend what is the divine or unseen. Reasoning cannot explain for example black magic that goes on in some countries such as Oman. Reasoning also cannot fully explain the existence of God. This is because we cannot see or hear God. Until we do not physically see God, we will not be able to know about his existence. Another failure of overestimating reasoning was it led to a general decline in religion. While all the main figures of the eighteenth century enlightenment were Deists, who believed in a non-interventionist cloud-maker God, their nineteenth century successors became atheists or at least agnostics. Another failure of concept of enlightenment in Europe was the lawlessness produced from fascism and communism. This lawlessness was produced as the concept of enlightenment rejected the concept of divine law and believed that the basis of law can be found in nature. As what was called the natural law was actually made by the people, it was under the influence of either the majorities in a democratic country or brutal totalitarian rulers. The Enlightenments sense of unlimited progress also had negative effects. Tradition, which is the basis of all major religions including Islam, was completely abandoned. The concept of sacredness was also neglected. Rather any change was welcomed. By the end of the nineteenth century many people anticipated that the earth will become a paradise once all scientific discoveries would take place. In the twentieth century the real failures of enlightenment showed up. The results were two world wars that destroyed most of Europe and America. The use of chemical and nuclear weapons in these wars killed tens of millions of people. In between these two world wars the fanatic totalitarian systems of communism (Russia, Eastern Europe, China, Cambodia, Congo, Vietnam and Algeria) and fascism (Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Greece) arouse. These one-party systems strongly discriminated against other parties and ethnic groups. They killed millions of people as a result of ethnic cleansing and class warfare. Examples of such brutalities include the Holocast, which was carried by the Nazis against the Jews. All these brutalities were a consequence of the inhumane rationalism that contradicted the discipline of ethics in philosophy, which in turn contradicted the ideas of the early philosophers and founders of enlightenment. Such disasters including the possibility of a World War Three are ahead of us. However, the present negative results of enlightenment are unnecessarily high consumption patterns in Western countries, a further decline in religiosity, wide scale environmental degradation, increased inequality between the poor and rich and the negative results of globalization, which include the widening gap between rich and poor countries in terms of national income and standard of living. Why Islam is more enlightened than the Western ideology of enlightenment and should be promoted? When analyzing the successes and failures of Islam, I found that Islam has no failures and is a perfect way of life, which is why it is such an enlightened religion. However when I studied the successes and failures of enlightenment in the West, I noticed that there were a lot of major failures that resulted from enlightenment even though there were some great successes such as the advancement in technology. The successes achieved from enlightenment in the West could have also been achieved by the Muslims if they had not deviated from the path of the Prophet Muhammad, which is the Quraan and traditions (Sunnah) of the Prophet. If we look the earlier eras in Islamic history, the Muslims were much ahead of the West in technology and sciences. The Muslims also had their own empire which extended from China to Southern France. At that time the West lived in the Dark Ages and were inspired by the Muslim philosophers and sociologists such as Averroes (Ibn Rushd), Ibn Khaldun and Avicenna (Ibn Sina). A lot of words in English and French were borrowed from Arabic such as alcohol (al-Kohol), algebra (al-Jabr), assassin (hashshashiyeen) and coffee (kahva). Also if we look at the time period (between the 19th and 20th century), when the enlightenment was causing devastation in the West such as the two world wars and the Holocast, we will find that there were no such major conflicts in the Islam world. The Islamic countries were at peace with each other. Also if we study the Quraan we will find that it provides a great deal of enlightenment even during the present day. It is sound in accordance with the latest discoveries in science. In fact the Quraan has been a leading guide to enlightenment for 1400 years since it begun. Since the time of the Prophet, it has been by far the best piece of Arabic literature and had a tremendous influence on the Arabic language particularly in secular (prose) and religious writing. During the time of the Prophet it challenged the best poets in Arabia to write even one verse as eloquent as the Quraan. Many of these poets (such as Kaab Ibn Zuhayr) accepted Islam due to the Quraans eloquence and originality. In the present world, the Quraan is serving as a guide to scientific research and jurisprudence. References Badawi, J.A. (1980). The Status of Women in Islam. Al-Ittihad, 8(2), 1-28. Davies, N. (1996). Europe, A History: Enlightenment And Absolutism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Duprà ©, L. (2004). The Enlightenment the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Culture: A Definition and a Provisional Justification. Yale: Yale University Press. Enlightenment (concept). (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_%28concept%29 Hofmann, M.W. (2002, Summer). Has Islam Missed Its Enlightenment? American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 19(3), 1-10. Ibrahim, I.A. (1997). A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam (2nd ed.). Houston: Darussalam , Publishers and Distributors.

Christopher Pawling Popular Fiction Ideology or Utopia

Introduction: Popular Fition: Ideology or Utopia? Christopher Pawling Popular Fiction and Literary criticism Despite the growth of interest in popular fiction, it has been difficult to introduce courses on them in college and university syllabi because it is still not considered as mainstream literature, just a minor or peripheral genre. The self-definition of English literature depends heavily on what is absent from its field- its significant other- popular literature or paraliterature whose absence from the syllabus enables us to define the dominant literary culture.Paraliterature is a sort of ‘taboo’ against which the ‘self’ of literature proper is fashioned. Darko Suvin says that a discipline which does not take into account 90% of its domain seems to have a distorted vision in the small zone it focuses on. i. e. high literature. In the last few years, there has been an attempt to initiate interdisciplinary courses. The prejudice against popular literature has gone down because it garners the widest readership. It is also more inextricably linked to ‘other’ aesthetic modes of communication like film and TV. Pop fic has been included in the curriculum since the 1960s.This is not a ‘soft option’ but has generated a serious corpus of criticism predicated on theory. So reading pop fic is not as much of a peripheral preoccupation as was assumed earlier. Much of the secondary work on pop lit has been untheorised and eclectic. The prospective student has been faced with a) production, marketing and consumption of popular fiction which elude meanings embodied in the text themselves and b) Analyses using the tools of lit criticism to give an ‘internal’ account of the themes embodied within the text or genre, but are unable to make connexions between the literary artefact and the social context.In such situations, the socio-historical context is seen as something external. Sociologists have dealt with texts of popular culture as direct bearers of ideology. Popular fiction reflects social meanings/ mores and intervene in the life of society by organising and interpreting experiences which have previously only been subject to partial reflection. Pop fic, like all other cultural creations, interprets human experience. Genre Analysis Popular novels are not simple repositories of sociological data. They generate norms/ expectations on which the reader’s acceptance/ rejection of the text depends. See quotation from James: â€Å"Genres are essentially†¦ contracts. † The narrative of the thriller offers a form of pleasure (uncertainty between security and adventure) that is different from that of women’s romance. The ‘relative autonomy’ of the narrative helps to define boundaries of different genres. These genres do not exist in a vacuum but they circulate in specific social, cultural and historical contexts. We must acknowledge that our popular genres differ from those of other societies so they cannot be seen within umbrella terms like universal ‘archetypal structures. ’ Narrative and Ideology: Macherey and Goldman A breakthrough in cultural readings has been that the mediations between text and society are present in the text itself. Levi Strauss- Ideology is present in both the form and content of the myth as text and the narrative itself provides the crucial link between the ‘external’ reality of social experience and the ‘internal’ meaning which is derived therefrom. Frederic Jameson- narrative is a form of reasoning about experience and society. Pierre Macherey starts with an analysis of the internal logic or problematic of the text before going on to reconstruct the ideological field which lies behind the narrative.The author tests out certain ideological propositions which form the basis of the literary discourse. The narrative may thus reveal any contradictions inherent in those assumptions and then suppresses them through magical resolutions. The narrative may get flawed if the author refuses this escape route and pursues the contradiction till they destabilize the text. Jules Verne’s story, The Mysterious Island begins with a supposedly straightforward celebration of ‘bourgeois’ science.It is subverted by Captain Nemo who epitomizes a scientific spirit of enquiry untainted by social relations. This ‘ideal’ image of science is finally rejected by Verne and Nemo rejected as an anachronistic figure whose illusions destroy him and his island. It helps to undermine the effect of an all-conquering science. Verne’s story does not offer a conscious interrogation of the bourgeois image of science. Macherey’s reading reveals a flaw in the narrative which allows us to gain access to the repressed meanings of ‘political unconscious’ (Frederic Jameson) of the narrative. Martin Jordin’s analysis of 1950s novel Wolfbane shows that the narrative of Wolfbane just does not re produce given ideological assumptions about the role of science in society but that it also puts that ideology to work ‘ testing, defining and reconstructing it in the process of interpreting the changing content of†¦ historical experience. ’ Wolfbane reverses the science fiction formula by implying that science must first be liberated from its service to an irrational social order before it can become an instrument of human progress or produce a more free and equal society.During this period, the readership of SF (the scientific middle class) had to be subordinated to the needs of the corporate economy. The text became a site of ideological struggle and not just a reflection of external social processes. The narrative ‘constructs’ rather than reflects an ideological position. Jordin’s analysis of Wolfbane emphasizes the disillusionment with science as part of a creative interrogation of ideology within the text. Mellor concentrates on the way i n which science fiction expresses the ‘world vision’ of its readership, on its relative autonomy, rather than treating it as a relatively independent entity.The flight from science reflects a process of fragmentation which is already detectable outside the text, in the developing ‘world vision’ of the ‘educated middle class. ’ Mellor constructs an overall picture of SF as a genre, whereas Jordin concentrates on the narrative mechanics of one moment of change and therefore is bound to privilege the more ‘autonomous’ features of the text. But the authors share the same philosophy. The Popular/ Elite Dichotomy: Lowenthal and Cawelti Macherey breaks with’ established’ literary criticism in his refusal to divide the sphere of literature between ‘elite’ literature (an autonomous realm which is somehow free from ideology), and ‘popular’ or ‘mass’ literature (supposedly a direct reflecti on of ideology and therefore not amenable to the sophisticated analysis given to ‘canonic’ texts). Macherey says a text is literary because it is recognized as such, at a certain moment, under certain conditions. It may not have been recognized as such before or after. Macherey’s highlights the relativity of literary value and he need to problematize categories such as ‘popular’ and ‘high’ literature. Verne has been added to the curriculum since Macherey, so we can conclude that the ‘canon’ is a historical construct, rather than a fixed entity, and that is open to revision. He challenged that a science fiction work by a minor author is not a literary text and has been proved right in a subsequent era. There are no separate mode of analysis for the study of popular fiction and real literature. This dichotomy leads to a reductionist approach.According to Tony Bennett, â€Å"non-canonized texts are necessarily collapsed back i nto the conditions of production from which they derive. † Popular fiction is often limited to an account of marketing strategies employed in promoting bestsellers. Or ‘mass’ fiction is studied as a component of ‘the culture industry. ’ Leo Lowenthal’s book Literature, Popular Culture and Society says that since the division of literature into ‘art’ and ‘commodity’ in the eighteenth century, the popular literary products can make no claim to insight and truth.The emergence of a market economy has profound implications for the relationship between author and reader. Yet even ‘high’ art or ‘serious’ literature is not so impervious to markets, consumption patterns and economic profit as to warrant assessment only in terms of what Pierre Bordieux calls ‘symbolic profit. ’ (See Randal Johnson’s discussion of Bordieux’s argument about economic vs. symbolic profit in Ã¢â‚¬Ë œPierre Bourdieux on Art, Literature and Culture’- Editor’s Introduction to Pierre Bourdieux, The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1993, p. 15. ) John Cawelti’s Adventure, Mystery and Romance argues that popular fiction is intrinsically more ideological than its ‘elite’ counterpart. For Cawelti, ‘formulaic’ fiction has the function of reproducing cultural consensus, in contrast to ‘mimetic’ (elite) fiction which confronts us with the problematic and contrasting reality of the world. Mimetic literature represents life as we know it while the formulaic reflects the construction of an ideal world without the disorder, ambiguity, uncertainty and limitations of the world of our experience. Formulaic literature is an ‘artistry of escape’ which makes it popular. The tensions, ambiguities and frustrations†¦. mystery† (p. 9) This model attempts to defend pop ular fiction by assigning it to the realms of escape and distraction. There is no place in Cawelti’s scheme for ‘a literature of genuine innovation, or for one of informal ‘underground’ education. That is confined to the domain of mimetic literature. If popular fiction is ‘conventional’ in an artistically conservative sense, all literature is concerned with the manipulation of narrative expectations in some way, and even the most sophisticated literary subversion inevitably sets up generic patterns after a while.Even an arch modernist such as Theodore Adorno has recognised that formulae (which he terms as ‘stereotypes’) are an essential element in the organisation and anticipation of experience. It would be wiser to ask under what conditions specific literary genres become rigid and lose their creative potential while acknowledging that this is a question which applies to both popular and elite fiction. Cawelti privileges the conse nsual role of popular culture. Formulaic lit, he says, assimilates new interests into ‘conventional imaginative structures. The black-oriented action stories of the early 70s use a traditional formula- the ‘hard boiled thriller- but fill it with new content. The conventional forms of fantasy they use are not very different from the adventure stories that have been enjoyed by American audiences for several decades. Cawelti’s ‘functionalist’ theory has its origins in mainstream American sociology. American culture, he believes, embodies a set of ‘core’ values which gradually spread outwards to the periphery of society and eventually embrace ‘marginal’ groups such as the black minorities.But this model takes certain values for granted and assumes that culture is a homogenous entity rather than seeing it as a site of struggle which is marked by contradictions. But while the black action stories tend to make the black man an initi ator of action , they also glorify a ‘machismo’ image with the result that the cultural ‘integration’ of the male section of the community takes place at the cost of the woman, who experiences a double subordination. While Lowenthal condemns pop fic as a purveyor of ‘false consciousness, Cawelti tends to extol this function in a rather uncritical a manner. Cawelti highlights the harmonising, normative function of formulaic narrative whereas when we look at the ideological conflict within each text, it becomes clear that it is also potentially subversive of that consensus. Popular Fiction and ‘Common Sense’: the Influence of Gramsci Even the most banal narratives illuminate the material reality which lies behind the ostensibly unified, conflict-free world of ideology.Rosalind Brunt’s chapter on Barbara Cartland’s romance stories highlights a contradiction in the narrative, between the intended message which focuses on the rol e of woman as a transcendent, spiritual being, and the actual process of narration which concentrates on the more mundane reality of ‘love and marriage’- historical necessities lead women to pursue men and to turn love into an ‘economically rational career. ’ Therefore virginity is seen a s a commodity which secures the heroine an economic place in the world through a ‘good’ marriage.Cartland’s novels show women’s involvement in a patriarchal commodity market that is incongruous with her romantic idealism. The ‘spiritual union’ of marriage is always celebrated at the end of the novel but the impulse of the narrative is towards a materialist account of gender relations. Brunt focuses on the contradictions in the text. Her feminist reading shows that the author’s intentions are partially subverted at an unconscious level by a material reality that cannot be wished away by the ‘magical resolutions’ at the end of the text.Cartland’s novels can be interpreted in a way that renders them potentially subversive of the author’s own intentions, They do not generate an ‘alternative view of female identity. In fact, they endorse values opposite to those of the women’s movement and Cartland undoubtedly opposes any move towards greater social and cultural equality for her sex. Gramsci terms the Cartlandian approach to her readers as ‘common sense’ (the space between hegemonic ideology and material reality).Women are naturally subordinate to men and they know it. They have to operate in a different manner if they are to succeed as women. Women, therefore, are socialised into existing gender relations. Everything is enclosed within a circular narrative. The heroine has to decide between marrying for love or money. The choice has to be based on common sense, and there is no suggestion that there is a third choice- that of not marrying at all. Her depend ence on marriage as a route to economic security is acknowledged unquestionably. There are contradictions in the world of ‘lived ideology’- stone age elements combine with principles of a more advanced science, prejudices from all past phases of history and intuitions of a future philosophy. ’ Here Gramsci highlights the dialectic between ideology and utopia which is so crucial in the making of popular fiction. A Stone Age element in Cartland’s fiction is, for example, is the fascination with the aristocracy. The intuitions of a utopian future are free from contradictions. Most formulaic fiction in normal times, says Gramsci, have a predominance of Stone Age elements.At times of intensified political and cultural struggle, common sense adopts a more utopian outlook. At those times, there is an active popular demand for literature which embodies alternative values. Popular Fiction: Ideology or Utopia? What is the relationship between popular fiction and cul tural politics at certain key moments in the post-war period? The seesawing dialectics between ideology and utopia has to be seen in this context. In the late 50s, British society was moving towards ‘the morality of affluence. The fear was that an old world of authentic value, associated with the pre-war working class, was on the verge of extinction. In Stuart Laing’s Room at the Top, the vision of a romantic haven based on an ‘alternative reality’- the relationship between the hero and the heroine- amidst the ‘rat race’ collapses with the heroine’s death. At the end, there is a cynical acceptance of the present and the inevitable values of affluence. In the 60s, there was a counter-culture which highlighted the need to reframe relationships within the frame of the perquisites of political change. Middle class pressure groups at the time attempted to make society live up to its stated ideals, rather than movements with a concrete vision of the ‘just society. ’ The counter culture was hardly a mass movement in the classic sense of the word because it was largely confined to the middle class. But it did have a populist outlook, rejecting cultural divisions and celebrating popular art as an arena of cultural struggle. Chapter by David Glover- concentrates on that ‘moment’ in the 1960s when certain writers of fantasy- Tolkein, Peake, Burroughs and Moorecock, acquired a cult status among the counter-culture.Each of these authors reached maximum exposure and circulation through the medium of mass market paperbacks. Fantasy gave expression to the search for utopian alternatives. The taste for anti-realist texts among the among the counter-culture can be seen as a kind of literary equiavlent to the alteration of consciousness’, suggesting new ways of perceiving one’s relationship with others, society in general and the natural world. The content of these utopian tales offered the vis ion of a ‘human’ proportions, an organic society based on the small collective and the needs of the individual.Glover concludes that the ‘enclosed world’ of utopia/ fantasy ‘provided a touchstone for a critique of existing social structures and the construction of alternatives, social models prefigured in the achievements of literary technique. ’ ‘Counter culture’ was a spent force by the early 70s. Popular fantasy developed instead in a cult of the sword and sorcery. The world vision of the counter culture had been inspired by the past, a need to recover a world which had disappeared with industrialism. There was a strong plea for traditional political values, not a mere revival of pastoralism.Adams’ novel signalled that return to tried and tested conservative values. That was to prove an important component of political rhetoric in the 1970s. This book does not offer a comprehensive introduction to the study of popular fic tion. There is an emphasis in Pawling’s book on studies which concentrate on the meanings which form around texts, genres or authors, rather than analyses which might examine the way in which those meanings have been understood by particular groups of readers. The concentration on the point of production rather than consumption is the outcome of a moment in cultural studies.The process of ‘reception’ has been highlighted in determining the meaning generated by individual texts. Texts can have different meanings for different groups of readers. A work cannot merely be collapsed into its various moments of reception. It is necessary to focus on the text as a source of meaning creation. This allows the student to test his/ her reading of popular fiction against the various approaches on offer here. The function of a book like this should be to encourage others to embark on their own analyses.

An Invitation For Breast Cancer Screening - 923 Words

ssay plan Introduction - it is a question why some women refuse to accept an invitation for breast cancer screening Body Global incidence - cancer as a second most common type of cancer -high rate of breast cancer in high income countries Breast compression - why is necessary, mammography process explanation Risk factors – age - cancer increases with age and why -genetic factor-breast cancer in the family Advantages of breast cancer screening - effective method, non-invasive Conclusion Breast screening=early detection= early treatment=advantage Nevertheless, the screening appears to be safe, effective and non-invasive way of breast examining. The radiation dose is reduced due to breast compression and x-ray picture is obtained at lower energies. The important fact is that mammography does not treat the breast cancer but detect the potential changes in breast tissue and is able to point out places where it cou ‘Mammography is nothing to be afraid of ‘ Yes or No are the questions of many women when it comes to make a decision of going for breast cancer screening. A lot of women struggle in resolving such dilemma and many have a rather negative approach. Women often know very little about the benefits of breast cancer screening. It seems that the lack of informed choices can affect whether they will accept a screening invitation or not. Perhaps, the better understanding ofShow MoreRelatedPreventative Measures Report On Health Screening Programmes1146 Words   |  5 Pagesreport Health screening programmes Definition – Screening programmes are to detect early signs of cancer. 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