ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to address some of the questions the first chapter left unanswered, as well as trying to prove the compatibility between Marx’s works and Gramsci’s. This chapter also presents the key characteristics of my definition of ideology. Various topics related to Marxism and ideology are discussed. Key concepts employed by Gramsci in the Prison Notebooks are explained in depth and integrated into the ‘materialist theory’ developed in the previous chapters through Marx. Particular focus is given to Gramsci’s notion of hegemony, and his way of understanding the base/superstructure dichotomy presented by Marx. Indeed, I argue that those three concepts are essential for any attempt to develop a Marxist theory of ideology. The concepts of common sense/folklore and ideology/philosophy are also discussed as pairs in some depth. Overall, this chapter serves the purpose of ‘finalising’ my theory of ideology by looking at Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks (even though further development of the theory will be presented in chapter 4).
