Fiction-absolute

The concept of fiction-absolute exists firstly within the context of anthropology, secondly within the study of group psychology and tribalism.

The term was coined and defined by journalist Tom Wolfe in his 2006 Jefferson Lecture for the National Endowment for the Humanities.[1] Wolfe defined the term as the propaganda that a tribe or social group employs to explain why that group is the best of all groups and its people the best people. The term itself indicates that it is absolutist in that it defines in stark terms why members should prefer that tribe, and necessarily fictional because it is propaganda, although it might have some basis in truth. The fiction-absolute is essentially a tribe's core propaganda. It can lead to intolerance and forms of collective action.

The fiction-absolute not only necessitates a harsh view of other groups, but also unaffiliated people and individualists.

References

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