A political myth is an ideological narrative that is believed by social groups. In 1975, Henry Tudor defined it in the book ''Political Myth''. He said that myths are believed to be true even if they may be false, and they are devices with dramatic constructions used "in order to come to grips with reality". Political myths simply deal with political topics and always use a group of people as the hero or

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

. In 2001, Christopher G. Flood described a working definition of a political myth as "an ideologically marked narrative which purports to give a true account of a set of past, present, or predicted political events and which is accepted as valid in its essentials by a social group". Examples cited as political myths include

Manifest Destiny Manifest destiny was a cultural belief in the 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand across North America. There were three basic tenets to the concept: * The special virtues of the American people and th ...

, The Clash of Civilizations, and

national myth A national myth is an inspiring narrative or anecdote about a nation's past. Such myths often serve as important national symbols and affirm a set of national values. A national myth may sometimes take the form of a national epic or be incorpor ...

s. In 1946

Ernst Cassirer Ernst Alfred Cassirer ( , ; July 28, 1874 – April 13, 1945) was a German philosopher. Trained within the Neo-Kantian Marburg School, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic philosophy of science. A ...

recounted political theory in his ''The Myth of the State''. In 1973, T. L. Thorson wrote in the 4th edition of '' A History of Political Theory'': "It is the mark of a modern mind to be able to explicitly create a 'myth' as a way of influencing others (as, for example,

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

does in '' The Republic''). In its original sense myth is a literal description."T.L. Thorson (1973) A History of Political Theory, 4th edition, page 14

Function

According to Tudor, what recasts myth as

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

in nature is its subject matter, that being politics. In order for a political narrative to be recast as myth, the narrative of events must be cast in dramatic form and it must serve a practical argument. Tudor defines ''dramatic form'', stating "there is indeed a critical event by reference to which men can order their present experience but the events in question are thought of as taken place in the past." The function of political myth can be better understood when it is broken down into the following components: (1) myth provides the theoretical argument, which is incorporated into an (2) ideology that supports the myth by providing a practical argument. Every myth has its protagonist/heroic figure that represents a particular community destined to create a morally coherent world which orients the community's activities towards this end. Mythopoeic narratives in political discourse can range from origin stories (

foundation myth An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have sto ...

s) that recount the establishment of a community, to ascribing a political existence to a community based in the future (often a utopic vision), to restoring a political community that has ceased to exist. Although, both myth and ideology carry certain values and beliefs,

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

provides a practical argument rooted in rendering the community's past experiences as coherent, allowing them to make sense of their present circumstances and often, as a result, providing communities with objectives for future activities. A myth is considered a ''political myth'' when the narrative provides an ideologically marked account of the past, present, and future of the political community. By ''ideologically marked'', the narrative carries "assumptions, values, and goals associated with a specific ideology… that conveys an implicit invitation to assent to a particular ideological standpoint." In short, political myths offer "an account of the past and the future in the light of which the present can be understood." A political myth's success is dependent on the practical argument being accepted as true.

References

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Bibliography

* Arvidsson, Stefan (2017). ''Style and mythology of socialism: socialist idealism, 1871-1914''. Routledge * Bottici, Chiara (2007). ''A philosophy of political myth''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press * Cassirer, Ernst (1946). ''The myth of the state''. London: Oxford U.P. * Flood, Christopher (2002). ''Political myth: a theoretical introduction''. ew ed.New York: Routledge * Tudor, Henry (1972). ''Political myth''. London: Macmillan Ideologies Myths Political culture Social philosophy

Function

See also

References

Bibliography