The Deconstruction of Myths and Persistence in the Excessive: The Specters of Christianity in Louis Althusser's Theory of Ideology
Author: ZHOU Dan, Associate professor, Chinese Department, School of Humanities, Nanchang University
Abstract:
Louis Althusser’s study of Marxism and ideological theory has been given much attention abroad, but the significance of his early Christian belief has been ignored. Exploring the relation between Althusser and Christianity contributes to our comprehension of the systematic nature of Althusser’s ideological theory and to the elaboration of its inherent contradictions. This essay looks at the three aspects of Althusser’s deconstruction of the myth of “seeing,” the myth of over-determination and the myth of ideology, and discusses how Althusser’s early Christian experience had a profound effect on the development of his theological theory, constituting an “epistemological obstacle” to his intensive study of Marxism.
Keywords:
Althusser, Christianity, specter, ideological theory
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