Azar Nafisi and Maggie Nelson both address the issue of the ideology of art in their respective works, Reading Lolita in Tehran, and “Great to Watch.” Nafisi’s work focuses on whether or not one can use art as an escape to an imaginary world of their own ideologies. Nelson tries to show how art can let everyone have their own thoughts and ideas, without the presence of bias from the media. Ideology is best defined as an interconnected system of ideas, and both Nafisi and Nelson’s works demonstrate that art has many ideas attached to it. Therefore, art is naturally ideological because every unique piece has a multiplicity of meanings, and spreads new ideas into the minds of the observers, creating freedom of thought, cultural ideas, and imaginary
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Nelson shows this when she says, "We abide by cultural directives that urge us, clarify each thought, each experience, so you can cull from them their single, dominant meaning and in the process, become a responsible adult who knows what he or she thinks […] and you are able to swim, lucid and self contained, in that turbulent sea of multiplicity" (Nelson 311). What Nelson means by this is that people’s experiences that they grew up with are the foundation of the ideas they think of when they see a piece of art. These experiences are what transform them into adults with their own set of beliefs. Each single experience shapes people’s ideas and their interpretations, leading to many different opinions and feelings. There are so many possible interpretations, that one’s mind is always navigating through a “sea” of different responses. Since there are so many ideas attached to one piece of art, there must be a plethora of ideologies that can be interpreted. However, other people, such as government censors, can create art to influence another person’s ideologies as well. Nafisi demonstrates this when she says, “Not just our reality but our fiction had taken …show more content…
Unless one realizes that all the media—all the magazines, television, news broadcasts, advertisements—are biased, as well as the interpretations one may hear are from someone else’s point of view, they cannot truly understand their own ideas, and will not truly understand themselves. Art can only be unbiased if the observer understands himself without the judgement and bias that comes from other people. Even so, art will always convey ideas, making it inherently ideological. These ideas can also change a culture or way of life as it has numerous times in the past. It is known to induce epiphanies where people realize their true beliefs, and form their own ideologies. This is all important because no one wants to live in a world where people just tell them what the meanings are. Otherwise all freedom of thought vanishes and you will lose your sense of ideology. Any person— if they are not thinking as a unique individual— is not truly
Nelson shows this when she says, "We abide by cultural directives that urge us, clarify each thought, each experience, so you can cull from them their single, dominant meaning and in the process, become a responsible adult who knows what he or she thinks […] and you are able to swim, lucid and self contained, in that turbulent sea of multiplicity" (Nelson 311). What Nelson means by this is that people’s experiences that they grew up with are the foundation of the ideas they think of when they see a piece of art. These experiences are what transform them into adults with their own set of beliefs. Each single experience shapes people’s ideas and their interpretations, leading to many different opinions and feelings. There are so many possible interpretations, that one’s mind is always navigating through a “sea” of different responses. Since there are so many ideas attached to one piece of art, there must be a plethora of ideologies that can be interpreted. However, other people, such as government censors, can create art to influence another person’s ideologies as well. Nafisi demonstrates this when she says, “Not just our reality but our fiction had taken …show more content…
Unless one realizes that all the media—all the magazines, television, news broadcasts, advertisements—are biased, as well as the interpretations one may hear are from someone else’s point of view, they cannot truly understand their own ideas, and will not truly understand themselves. Art can only be unbiased if the observer understands himself without the judgement and bias that comes from other people. Even so, art will always convey ideas, making it inherently ideological. These ideas can also change a culture or way of life as it has numerous times in the past. It is known to induce epiphanies where people realize their true beliefs, and form their own ideologies. This is all important because no one wants to live in a world where people just tell them what the meanings are. Otherwise all freedom of thought vanishes and you will lose your sense of ideology. Any person— if they are not thinking as a unique individual— is not truly