Lifting the Veil

This article traces a brief genealogy of the concept of ideology, focusing on the way that this is a modern concept which presents a break with the traditional philosophical concerns with unmasking delusions and displaying the reality behind them. Ideology pertains to the very reality behind the illusions by virtue of a structural necessity, thus producing a redoubled or reflected illusion. Such was the focus of the classical ideology critique, but recent developments produced a new turn whereby the ideological construction does its own unmasking, preempting the critique. The obscene underside now comes to the fore, lifting the veil by which it was concealed, but this process doesn’t mean that we can now see the plain truth. Lifting the veil is an advanced form of obfuscation whereby the repression itself gets repressed.

1332 Continued

This chapter opens with the king of Castile’s two families—the queen, and his mistress Doña Leonor de Guzmán (La favorita) and her many sons: no mere family matter. We read of the king of Portugal’s protest at his daughter’s situation, Castile’s robust response that ‘the plain truth’ was that his wife was accorded every honour, and the reflections of Álvaro Pais. The author then considers the ways in which Afonso of Portugal had, ever since he reached his majority, consolidated his authority, culminating in the chamamento geral of 1334, followed by the Pragmática in 1340 which had echoes of Alfonso X’s Second Partida in Portugal’s organic ruler’s Ordenação. The resulting implications for the Portuguese Church as spelt out by Afonso are detailed. The chapter ends with Castile finally getting its cardinal, Pedro Barroso, and with Afonso IV confronting Archbishop Gonçalo of Braga.