2.1.1 . Ideology, Power, and Language
Ideology is a set of beliefs and values considered to be true by a person or a group of people. This is in line with Jones that he notes
, “Nowadays ‘ideology’ tends to be used more widely, to refer to any set of beliefs which, to the people who
hold them, appear to be logical and ‘natural’” 1999: 30. An ideology drives the people who believe in it to do or not to do anything in their life. Because it is
considered to be true, the ideology also shapes the attitudes of the holder to the reality. For instance, for some people in particular culture addressing the elders by
their names is considered as impolite and consequently, whenever there is a child addressing their parents by their names the child will receive negative attitude from
the people. Locke also notes that he “defines an ideology is an elaborate story told
about the ideal conduct of some aspect of human affairs” 2004: 33.
By referring to the definition that an ideology is considered as logical and natural to the holders an ideology may not fit to all. The possibility that in a society
many ideologies exist is widely open. However, it is common that peoples sharing same ideology will gather in a group and set their objectives and actions based on
the ideologies. In the practice, this phenomenon can be observed in the existence of political parties. The members of a party must share the same ideologies each other.
They also, then, decide their political turns based on their ideologies. This is in accordance with what Simpson defines
, that an ideology is “assumptions, beliefs, and value-systems which are shared collectively
by social groups” 1993: 5. As a shared belief and assumption, an ideology is often understood only as
thought or knowledge, however it is also practical. Kim mentions that an ideology cannot be separated from reality 2009: 9. This idea is discussed as the ideological
fantasy. It is called fantasy since the ideology is like an illusion. In every practice or conduct, people act based on what they know or even what they do not know.
Zizek adds that ideological fantasy is a double illusion since “they people know very well how things are but still they are doing it as if they did not know” 2008:
30. The implication is that the existence of ideology can be traced in the practice or conduct. The tendency is, again, however, that people consider what they are
doing is reasonable and true or natural. The possibilities of the existence of different ideologies and the nature of
ideology that the holders consider it as true, natural and logical bring a consequence and the consequence brings further implications in practice. The consequence is
that the holders of particular ideologies have a tendency to promote and the ideologies to the other groups holding different ideologies. In other words, the
groups want to dominate each other. The implications of that consequence are the domination of one ideology to the others and the struggles of the less dominate
groups toward the dominant groups. Those implications appear when there is inequality of power.
Power enables the member of particular groups of a particular ideology to control the other groups of ideologies. On that notion, Tollefson 2006: 46 notes
that power is the ability to “control events in order to achieve one’s aims”. Similarly, Myers-
Scotton mentions that power is “the control someone has over the outcomes of others” 2006: 199. The controlling group can be said as the powerful
and the dominant group. This dominant group tries to introduce its ideology toward the other groups. Van Dijk notes
, “Power involves control, namely by members of one group over those of other groups. Such control may pertain to action and
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