Does it still make sense, in the postmodern age, to identify a particular kind of consciousness as ‘false’? David Hawkes argues that it does. He makes this case by tracing the history of the concept of ‘ideology’ showing how, through its many vicissitudes, it always refers to a distortion of the relationship between ideas, matter and representation. This concise, comprehensive and lively guide explores the history of the term ‘ideology’ and its use in literary criticism. The key thinkers in this field, from Luther through to the postmodern present day, are discussed and throughout examples and illustrations are used to clarify and illuminate.

A knowledge of the tradition through which people have attempted to describe the phenomenon of ideology is essential for an understanding of contemporary philosophy, art and literature. This guide, written especially for the student with no previous knowledge of the subject, is an indispensable foundation for this understanding.

The author

David Hawkes is Assistant Professor of English at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania.