3/10/97
Skye Macpherson


Good morning...evening didn't go so well...

Good evening...


	Before I "render" my outline of Louis Althusser's Ideology and 
Ideological State Apparatuses, I would like to report a few bits of 
information on Althusser.  Although this term is not used in the article 
I will summarize, Althusser is the originator of the term the 
"problematic."  The problematic is defined as the "unconscious 
infrastructure of a text" (Brewster, 1989). This terms does relate to the 
discussion of the article we will look at, in that a problematic suggests 
those thoughts an author will not present, but will struggle with within 
his/her own "ideological field."

	A writer/author makes choices about what will and will not appear 
within a given text. Such choices are always a challenge, and certainly 
if the work is a critical piece, the choices will reflect one's 
particular ideology to some degree.  

Note:  Like Gramsci, Althusser spent sometime in jail, Ben knows more of 
their stories than I do.

	I.  "Ideology is a 'representation' of the imaginary 
         relationship of individuals to their real conditions of
         existence."

	    A.  Ideology is ahistorical, it is eternal, like the
	        unconscious, as defined by Freud.

	    B.  "Men" represent not necessarily their conditions
		   but their relationship to the conditions of the
		   "world" the live in. 

    II.  "Individuals who live in ideology, live in a determinate
         representation of the world..."

	    A.  An ideology, such as the belief in God, reduces down
	        to a consciousness that contains an individual's beliefs.

	    B.  Rituals are the practices in which the individual
		   acts to reinforce an ideology.  

	    C.  It is important to not the parallel made between
	        the unconscious and ideology.  Both are seen by
		   Althusser as being open-ended, no beginning or
		   end accept as they relate to human existence.
	        That is humans have an unconscious. Also humans
	        have a need to explain themselves. We have dreams.  
		   We have ideologies. 

" `Kneel down, move your lips in prayer, and you bill believe,' Pascal."

   III.  "Ideology interpellates individuals as subjects."

	    A.  " `It is in ideology that we live, move and
		   have our being,' St. Paul."  

	    B.  In order discourse on ideology, it is necessary
	        to disengage from it in order to "engage" it.

	    C.  Through the thought processes of ideological
		   rumination, we see ourselves in relation to
             creation, which includes ourselves and all other
	        subjects.

   IV.  Althusser presents the example of being hailed or
	   addressed (Derrida talks about this too) to demonstrate
	   how we recognize our relationship to reality and use
        that as a confirmation of our ideological stances.

        A.  Christian ideology is a prime example of how
	       ideologies work.
            1.  The subject as the individual
            2.  The Subject as the authority
            3.  The subject as society

	   B.  There is a parallel between the dynamics of
            hegemonic forces in a society or culture and
	       the dynamics of an ideology.
            1.  This is what Althusser refers to as the
                ISA (Ideological State Apparatus)
	       2.  Ideologies are realized through institutions,
		      through ritual practices.  

	V.  ISA's come to be the ruling ideology through their 
	    installation.
	   
	    A.  The installation of an ISA occurs by and through
	        the support of the ruled.

	    B.  Through ideological practices the ruled inform
	        the ruler how the can/must be ruled.

	    C.  This process of justification on the institutional
	        level through the use of ideology parallels the
             processes Nietzsche discusses "mans" use of metaphor
             in order to "resolve a perception into an idea."

    VI.  Althusser illustrates the invisible, perhaps non-existent
         characteristic of the precepts* (theories or ideas) upon 	   
          which we hang our beliefs. *assumptions
	    A.  The ideologies in which we cradle our consciences are    
                partly inherited, partly imagined.
	    B.  When we write, be it a critique or an "original"
             piece, we must deal with the "problematic."  We
	        must make peace all over again with ourselves as
             the subject and as Subject of that text.

	My "position" to Althusser's discussion seems redundant.  I think 
our institutions, in particular our government effectively, as far as the 
hegemonic forces are concerned, control the masses through the use of our 
ideologies.  However, these ideologies belong to all of us, so they limit 
the ruler, while at the same time serving as a tool for disclosing 
inroads to manipulate the masses.  I think also that some of this process 
occurs on the sub-conscious or even unconscious level.

Have a good one, 

skye.