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Ideological Language in the Transformation of Identity
Author(s) -
Stromberg Peter G.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1990.92.1.02a00030
Subject(s) - ideology , ambivalence , identity (music) , subject (documents) , meaning (existential) , sociology , epistemology , set (abstract data type) , transformation (genetics) , christianity , aesthetics , linguistics , social psychology , philosophy , psychology , law , political science , religious studies , computer science , politics , biochemistry , chemistry , library science , gene , programming language
Christians who have undergone conversion experiences usually claim that the experience has not only strengthened their religious commitment, it has in addition transformed their lives. The idea that a person may be transformed through using a set of symbols (called an “ideology” here) is not limited to Christianity; many ideologies make similar claims. Using the example of the conversion experience, I argue that ideologies may indeed create a sense of self‐transformation in the subject. This sense arises out of the fact that the subject is able to use the ideological language to resolve enduring problems of meaning in his or her life. Such problems are not, however, resolved once and for all; rather, the discourse of informants reveals that self‐transformation is an ongoing process wherein ideological language is used to express and come to terms with persisting emotional ambivalence.