The Process of Oppression

My Final

Hegemony is a concept that is easy enough to comprehend the essence of, but there are many complex facets to its function and implementation. Hegemony is how one group remains in a dominant position over another, which involves the usage of several processes: the use of several organizations to formalize power; the employment of a bureaucracy to make power seem abstract; the inculcation of a population on the ideas of the hegemonic group; and the use of large, powerful police and military forces to maintain control. These processes are crucial for a hegemonic group who is looking to place and maintain a hiatus between them and those who are of less importance and influence.

Ideologies are as vital to hegemonies as each of those processes are, not because it is one of them but because it is vital to each process. Ideology is a more intricate concept, but it is just as important as hegemony if one wishes to have an understanding of how the world operates. Ideologies are terms used to mask real conditions, prescribe, generalize, and make their messages appear to be common sense. These concepts are all discussed in the article "Ideology" by Jeffrey Nealon and Susan Searls Giroux. The article describes the different types of ideologies which are used to confuse others to gain power or influence. It gives the example of several theories that attempt to explain teenage crime which can mask the real cause. It then presents the true unmasked condition that teenage crime is about "money-about who's got it and who wants it" (Nealon and Giroux 95) rather than broad generalizations that make the problem seem more preventable.

This can also be observed in the political slogan, "It's time for change." This statement is a generalization because it could apply to anyone or anything. Everyone wants something to change, so the politician hopes to appeal to the minds of voters who just want something to be different and will take their chances with this broad generalization. The statement also masks real conditions by keeping the true intentions and motivations of the politician hidden, therefore the voter cannot form a negative opinion of him or her based on the statement given. Ideologies are used to promote organizations, make power seem collective in a bureaucracy, inculcate a population on the ideas of a hegemony, and, in extreme cases, justify the aggressive actions of military or police forces. If a hegemonic coalition wheedles the population into believing they have the populace in their best interest, they are less likely to have opposition to their power.

However, concepts of narratology are the most effective tools for a hegemonic force to use to gain the support of those it has power over. Simply put, narratology is how stories are structured. This concept includes several different aspects: their common plot of separation, initiation, and return; traditional archetypes; and how to raise effective questions to create suspense, like proairetic and hermeneutic code. Stories can be used to give examples of why and how a population can benefit by conforming to the ideas of the hegemonic group, while also allowing the reader to truly feel what the protagonist is going through due to characterization. The standard plot of the hero allows the reader to feel the emotional journey to sympathize with the main character, the archetypes allow the reader to feel familiar with the story, and the smaller questions raised throughout allow the reader to remain interested in between the major changes in the plot.

Although stories can be used to support a hegemonic group, stories themselves can become the hegemony. Should someone read an article or book about a topic that they have no other knowledge on, that article or book dominates the reader's thinking about that topic, therefore having power over them. Even if the reader has separate information on the topic, the reader can still chose to allow one source to dominate their way of thinking by believing only that one source. However, it is ultimately up to the reader whether they allow a piece of literature to become a hegemony.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a perfect example of these techniques being used against a population. It takes place in a dystopian future United States where books are outlawed and emotions were nearly nonexistent. People are so devoid of any sort of feeling that they spontaneously commit murder just to feel any sort of emotion. The book is centered around a man named Montag whose job it is to burn any existing books, but a strange girl he meets one night reminds him how no one in this society is actually happy, and he begins to become curious about books because they are the only thing he knows are missing from society. He soon discovers, after collecting several books, that books hold real truths in them that had been robbed from them by a hegemonic government who had hypnotized the population into believing anything they said. He is discovered by the government however, but manages to escape the city and join up with several if those who thought the way he did about books.