The role of languages of politics and of power in the building of collective imaginary : from the concept of “social myth” according to G. Bouchard to the Italian debate

The recent volume by Gerard Bouchard, Social Myths e Collective Imaginaries (University of Toronto Press, 2017; original edition: Raison et déraison du mythe: coeur des imaginaires collectifs, Editions du Boreal, 2015), starts with the assumption that the study of myths does not play anymore a central role in the contemporary political and philosophical-political investigation. Myths, symbols, utopian narratives, etc., constitute, nevertheless, from the dawn of human history, not only the instruments of social cohesion, but constitute the means through which the various civilizations determine their institutions. The myths, far from being simple stories, often embody the trigger of political action, producing, in the collective imaginary, those feelings (from identity to hope, from fear to hatred) that move and direct the choices of the people. In this sense, the mythological narration keeps pace with the rhetoric, as an instrument for building consent. Therefore, it is necessary, along with the study of social myths, a research on the languages of politics and on the mechanisms of power intimately connected and intertwined with them. In this perspective, Bouchard's text represents a fruitful reflection. After having clarified the value of the myth and its social role (Chapters 1 and 2), the author faces the “mythification process”, in the Chapter that is perhaps the most original one (Chapter 3), followed by others two Chapters, respectively on “the conditions for the effectiveness of the myth” and on the hypothesis of construction of a pyramidal structure of social myths. Therefore, the third Chapter of Bouchard’s book investigates the mechanisms through which social myths emerge in a community, are preserved, are reproduced or decline. These pages deal with topics such as the construction of the subject, the anchors, the imprints, the ethos, the sacralization, the history, the techniques of persuasion and the social actors. To understand the mechanisms of production of those social myths, that are able to create and modify the collective imaginary, it is necessary to analyze the means used to shape the message as an instrument of power. The languages of politics, and in particular rhetoric, are not only instruments of power, but also the conditions that enable those mythological narratives, which concretely affect political action. Hence, therefore, we need a real phenomenology of the various mechanisms of production of social myths – like the one elaborated by Bouchard. He writes: “My approach focuses mainly on the social aspect of myth, that of the actors, contexts, power relations, and change, as opposed to the psychological or archetypical aspect, that of constantsand universalizing forms”: from the beginning he tries to make clear the connection between “social myths” and “power relations”. If the process of constructing social myths is articulated in various phases (Bouchard identifies eight of them), those most related to the languages of politics are those of “narration” and "techniques of persuasion" (respectively, Paragraphs F and G of Chapter 2). If, according to the author, the narratives often have a commemorative value and are mainly directed to a past dimension, such as the historical memory of a people, in the techniques of persuasion, instead, the languages of politics become a performative tool, exploited to change the brainframe (forma mentis) of political subjects, and therefore their political action: in this sense, it is strongly highlighted the link between languages of politics and power, id est the relationship between “knowledge” and “power”, on which a thinker as Foucault has long focused. Bouchard continues with an interesting phenomenology of the various persuasion techniques; in any case, the heart of the question consists in the dynamics of power connected to it, which can be examined through an equally various range of themes. Just as the languages of politics evolve in the history of humanity, in the same way power assumes different forms within the various political set-ups. If the ancient and modern world is organized according to a “pyramidal” model of power, the contemporary or post-modern world must use new strategies of power. Paolo Bellini, for example, in the footsteps of Foucault's studies, has been able to propose, in his works, a “reticular” structure of power, which fits well to describe many of the dynamics of contemporary politics. In the same way, in order to outline the new face of the languages of politics, its narratives and techniques of persuasion, we can use the image of the “grid”. This will be one of the objectives of this article, which aims not only to reconstruct the debate on social myths and the collective imaginary as presented by Bouchard, but also to examine in depth the “perfomatory” value of myth as an instrument of power, precisely in the inseparable relationship, as old as man, between “power” and “knowledge”, a relationship that presents itself with faces always new, through which the different aspects of collective identity are redrawn, from time to time.