The term “chauvinism” originates from the name of Nicolas Chauvin, a soldier in the French army during the Napoleonic Wars, known for his extreme patriotism and devotion to Napoleon.
Meanings and Concept:
1. Nationalism: Extreme patriotism and loyalty to one’s own nation, often accompanied by a belief in its superiority over others.
2. Gender Chauvinism: The belief in the superiority of one gender over the other, typically male over female, leading to discrimination or prejudice.
3. Cultural Chauvinism: The belief in the superiority of one’s own culture, often leading to the denigration or dismissal of other cultures as inferior.
4. Racial Chauvinism: The belief in the superiority of one race over others, often resulting in discrimination, prejudice, or racism.
Chauvinism: Definition of a Theoretical Term
Chauvinism is an excessive and prejudiced belief in the superiority of one’s own group or kind. It often manifests as uncritical devotion and aggressive promotion of one’s nation, gender, race, or other social category. Chauvinism frequently involves a sense of contempt or hostility towards perceived outsiders or rivals.
Chauvinism: Theorists, Works and Arguments
Hannah Arendt: In The Origins of Totalitarianism, Arendt analyzes how extreme nationalism and racial superiority were integral to totalitarian ideologies like Nazism, with chauvinistic fervor underpinning these movements.
Benedict Anderson: His seminal work, Imagined Communities, argues that nations are “imagined” social constructs with an emphasis on shared narratives of belonging. Chauvinism can arise from an extreme or exclusionary interpretation of these narratives.
Pierre Bourdieu: In works like Distinction, Bourdieu explores how social and cultural ‘tastes’ function as markers of superiority. This reinforces class hierarchies and can promote a chauvinistic attitude towards those with different backgrounds and cultural capital.
Frantz Fanon: Anti-colonial writer whose texts such as Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth offer analyses of the psychological damage inflicted by colonization. Colonizers frequently wielded chauvinistic justifications for their dominance, while resistance movements might utilize nationalism, including potentially its own forms of chauvinism, in their anti-colonial fight.
Works
Male Chauvinism: A feminist term often used to denote beliefs asserting an inherent male superiority and justification for patriarchal power structures. It remains a critical tool for understanding sexist prejudices.
National Chauvinism: Excessive, often militant, patriotism centered on an unquestioning belief in a nation’s superiority and an aggressive sense of its rights or dominance over others.
Religious Chauvinism: The claim of superiority or exclusivity of one’s own religion alongside disdain or denigration directed towards other faiths.
Arguments
Superiority and Subordination: Chauvinists view their own group as inherently superior to others and, through circular reasoning, use this supposed superiority to justify discriminatory practices and even violence.
In-Group Bonding: Chauvinism can foster strong senses of in-group belonging, potentially aiding a group’s coherence and mobilization, but with an underside of creating harmful social divisions.
Psychological Compensation: Chauvinism might arise as a way of compensating for individual insecurities or a decline in group status, projecting power outwardly to mask a sense of weakness.
Tool of the Powerful: Ruling classes or dominating groups may deliberately promote chauvinist ideas to justify their privileges or to divide and distract those they oppress.
Important Considerations
Intersections: Chauvinism rarely exists in isolation. It often intertwines with sexism, racism, classism, and other forms of bigotry.
Context is Key: The term carries various interpretations depending on the specific type of chauvinism (national, gender, etc.) and the historical context of its use.
Chauvinism: Major Characteristics
Major Characteristics
Unquestioning Loyalty and Exaggerated Patriotism: Chauvinists hold an uncritical and zealous devotion to their nation, group, or cause. They view their affiliations with exaggerated importance, blinding them to any faults or complexities.
Literary Example: Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden” reflects a colonial chauvinistic attitude, portraying the European conquest of other nations as a noble mission to ‘civilize’ supposedly inferior groups.
Belief in Inherent Superiority: A core belief that one’s own kind possesses superior qualities, intelligence, or morality. This can extend to race, culture, gender, religion, etc.
Literary Example: Shakespeare’s Othello demonstrates how racial chauvinism fuels characters like Iago, whose prejudice against Othello colors his interactions and contributes to the play’s tragic downfall.
Hostility or Contempt Towards ‘The Other’: Chauvinism involves denigrating out-groups as inferior, threatening, or unworthy of respect and cooperation.
Literary Example: Throughout history, war propaganda often portrays enemies in dehumanizing and chauvinistic terms to increase hostility fueling the conflict.
Historical Amnesia or Revisionism: A selective forgetting or twisting of past events to uphold a narrative of past glory. This ignores injustices or downplays negative aspects of one’s own group’s history.
Literary Example: Nationalistic epics, can sometimes create heroic mythologies for the nation, while selectively erasing or demonizing the perspective of historical rivals.
Aggressive Promotion of Dominance: Linked to perceptions of superiority, chauvinists may advocate for expansionist policies, oppressive hierarchies, or forceful means to establish their power over others.
Literary Example: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness offers a critique of imperial ambitions, and with it, shows how the quest for domination is inextricably linked to a chauvinistic disregard for humanity under the guise of ‘civilization’.
Additional Notes:
Varying Degrees: Chauvinism operates on a spectrum, ranging from subtle prejudices to overt bigotry and calls for violence.
Societal Reinforcement: Cultural narratives, political rhetoric, and even seemingly benign institutions can perpetuate chauvinistic attitudes in subtle ways.
Analyzes how Western imperialism imposed chauvinistic narratives of superiority, justifying colonization while erasing the voices and histories of the colonized.
Examines how ruling classes, dominant ethnic groups, or powerful nations may deploy chauvinist ideology to justify exploitation, sow divisions amongst the oppressed, or project an image of strength.
Explores how chauvinistic tendencies can arise from deep-seated insecurities, projections, or complexes within individuals as well as within wider society.
Understands literary texts within their historical moment, revealing how prevailing political structures, social attitudes, and dominant ideologies may manifest as chauvinism within individual works.
Investigates how intersecting hierarchies of power, based on race, gender, and other social identity markers, are built upon and maintained by various forms of chauvinism.
Chauvinism: Application in Critiques
Literary Work
Potential Areas for Chauvinist Critique
Analytical Considerations
The Epic of Gilgamesh (Ancient Mesopotamia)
National Chauvinism
Examine how Uruk’s victories are framed. Does the text champion expansionism or aggressive policies?
Gender Chauvinism
Analyze depictions of female characters (Ishtar, Shamhat). Are they primarily defined by stereotypes or serve merely to advance the male hero’s journey?
The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu (Medieval Japan)
Gender & Class Chauvinism
Investigate power dynamics between men and women within the Heian court. How might the text reflect notions of male privilege or limitations placed on women?
Cultural Chauvinism
Assess portrayals of those outside the aristocracy. Does the narrative suggest Heian-era superiority?
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia)
Neo-Colonial Chauvinism
Study foreign characters and interests. Do they reflect historical exploitative power dynamics between Latin America and external powers?
Familial Chauvinism
Analyze the patterns of pride, downfall, and repetition within the Buendía family. Could their flaws stem from a self-destructive lineage-based chauvinism?
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (India)
Caste Chauvinism
Deconstruct the caste system’s role in shaping social interactions and perpetuating oppression. Explore how internalized caste prejudices manifest in characters’ actions.
Religious Chauvinism
Identify subtle or overt expressions of prejudice and interfaith tensions. Consider how chauvinistic viewpoints impact character experiences.
Chauvinism: Relevant Terms
Theoretical Term
Brief Definition
Superiority Complex
A psychological sense of innate superiority, either individual or group-based.
In-group Favoritism
A tendency to favor and have greater trust in members of one’s own group.
Out-group Hostility
Negative opinions, prejudices, or discriminatory acts directed towards those outside one’s group.
