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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
The Personal And The Political In The Work Of Mariama Bâ, Adele King
The Personal And The Political In The Work Of Mariama Bâ, Adele King
Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature
In her two novels, Une si longue lettre and Un Chant écarlate, Mariama Bâ describes how political as well as domestic problems develop from the tensions between tradition and the modern world. Desire for power and money leads to a post-independence society, in which greed motivates politicians and in which a woman is treated as merchandise to be purchased by the richest man. Adherence to a supposed ideal pre-colonial community, however, can lead to both the subjugation of women and political isolation. Bâ wants a morality based on respect for others, and a willingness to discard those traditions that …
Text And Subject Position After Althusser, Antony Easthope
Text And Subject Position After Althusser, Antony Easthope
Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature
Althusser's achievement is that he redefined Marxism. He reconceptualizes history and totality in terms of different times, construes knowledge as the outcome of a process of construction, and interprets subjectivity as an effect of ideology and unconscious processes. Unfortunately, Althusser's functionalist view of ideology claims that the subject recognizes itself as a subject because it duplicates— reflects—an absolute subject. However, Lacan's notion of the mirror stage remedies this fault. Lacan's subject always misrecognizes itself in a process of contradiction that threatens the stability of any given social order. Moreover, unlike Foucault's subject, which is limited in that subjectivity is folded …