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7 The Politics of the Past: The Myth of the Clash of Civilizations
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Published:May 2014
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Abstract
This chapter examines how the spectacularization and virtualization of politics affect the search for legitimacy in a more or less invented tradition—what it calls the “politics of the past.” More specifically, it argues that mythical and historical narratives are not necessarily the same thing, but that they tend to converge in contemporary societies. In a global society of the spectacle, references to “traditions” tend to assume mythical connotations. The chapter first considers what constitutes a mythical narrative in general and a political myth in particular before explaining how political myth relates to historical narratives. It then explores how contemporary spectacularization and virtualization of politics have further increased what has been called the primacy effect of political myth. Finally, it looks at the recent success of the myth about a clash between Islam and the West.
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