Everything about Escapism totally explained
Escapism is mental diversion by means of
entertainment or
recreation, as an "escape" from the perceived unpleasant aspects of
daily stress. It can also be used as a term to define the actions people take to try to help relieve feelings of
depression or general
sadness.
History
Some believe that this diversion is more inherent in today's urban, technological existence because it
de facto removes people from their biologically normal natures. Entire industries have sprung up to foster a growing tendency of people to remove themselves from the rigors of daily life. Principal amongst these are
fiction literature,
music,
sports,
films,
television,
roleplaying games,
pornography,
religion,
recreational drugs, the
internet and
computer games. Many activities that are normal parts of a healthy existence (for example, eating, exercise, sexual activity) can also become avenues of escapism when taken to extreme.
In the context of being taken to an extreme, the word "escapism" carries a negative connotation, suggesting that escapists are unhappy, with an inability or unwillingness to connect meaningfully with the world.
However, there are some who challenge the idea that escapism is fundamentally and exclusively negative. For instance,
J.R.R. Tolkien, responding to the Anglo-Saxon academic debate on escapism in the 1930s, wrote in his essay "
On Fairy-Stories" that escapism had an element of emancipation in its attempt to figure a different reality. His friend
C. S. Lewis was also fond of humorously remarking that the usual enemies of escape were jailers.
Some social critics warn of attempts by the powers that control society to provide means of escapism instead of actually bettering the condition of the people. For example,
Karl Marx wrote that "
Religion is the opium of the people." This is contrary to the thought of
Saint Augustine of Hippo, who argued that people try to find satisfaction in
material things to fill a void within them that only
God can fill.
Escapist societies appear often in literature.
The Time Machine depicts the
Eloi, a lackadaisical, insouciant race of the future, and the horror their happy lifestyle belies. The novel subtly criticizes
capitalism, or at least
classism, as a means of escape. Escapist societies are common in
dystopian novels for example
Fahrenheit 451, where society uses television and "seashell radios" to escape a life with strict regulations and the threat of the forthcoming war.
A German social philosopher
Ernst Bloch wrote that utopias and images of fulfillment, however regressive they might be, also included an impetus for a radical social change. According to Bloch, social justice couldn't be realized without seeing things fundamentally differently. Something that's mere "
daydreaming" or "escapism" from the viewpoint of a technological-rational society might be a seed for a new and more humane social order, it can be seen as an "immature, but honest substitute for revolution".
Further Information
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