Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Structurally Cosmic Apostasy: The Atheist Occult World Of H.P. Lovecraft, Brian J. Reis

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

The conflict between materialism and spiritualism has a long and sordid philosophical history. Both schools of thought attempted to address the problems of the unknown through varying methods. There are two figures, who i their own ways, one subtle ad the other not so subtle rejected both means. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky sought to counter Spiritualist claims by venturing into her own occult philosophy—Theosophy—seeking to uncover spiritual truths, debunking religious traditions as well as seeking to undermine scientific materialism that had begun to sweep the intellectual life of the 19^th century. To do so, she claimed to have translated an …

The Enchanter's Spell: J.R.R. Tolkien's Mythopoetic Response To Modernism, Adam D. Gorelick

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

J.R.R. Tolkien was not only an author of fantasy but also a philologist who theorized about myth. Theorists have employed various methods of analyzing myth, and this thesis integrates several analyses, including Tolkien’s. I address the roles of doctrine, ritual, cross-cultural patterns, mythic expressions in literature, the literary effect of myth, evolution of language and consciousness, and individual invention over inheritance and diffusion. Beyond Tolkien’s English and Catholic background, I argue for eclectic influence on Tolkien, including resonance with Buddhism.

Tolkien views mythopoeia, literary mythmaking, in terms of sub-creation, human invention in the image of God as creator. Key mythopoetic …

Culture And Change: Attending To Early Modern Women, Elaine Beilin

Elaine V. Beilin

This is the fourth in the series of proceedings of the interdisciplinary conference sponsored by the Center for Renaissance & Baroque Studies at the University of Maryland. This volume reflects the commitment of scholars to the exploration of early modern women's culture as recovered through images, literature, music, and archives of the period. In essays on 'Stories,' 'Goods,' 'Faiths,' and 'Pedagogues,' scholars from a wide variety of fields discuss the contributions that reveal early modern women's influence on the societal and cultural transformations in which they participated. Nearly thirty workshops from the conference are summarized, and these offer a detailed …

Jane Austen’S Anglicanism By Laura Mooneyham White, Andrew O. Winckles

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830

No abstract provided.

Madam Britannia: Women, Church, And Nation, 1712-1812, By Emma Major, Kathryn Stasio

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830

No abstract provided.

The Marriage Of Science And Religion, Saurabh Kumar '14

2013 Spring Semester

At the end of A Canticle for Leibowitz, written by Walter M. Miller, Jr., the dropping of Lucifer and the resulting repetition of past destruction displays that there is an inherent flaw in the book’s futuristic society. The technological and scientific revival of a world that once repudiated knowledge is remarkable. However, the divergence of science and religion has caused humanity to use the power that comes with knowledge as irresponsibly as it did in the Flame Deluge. Mendelsohn states that, in speculative fiction, “religion is repeatedly depicted as dangerous, diverging humans from the path of reason and …

Satanic Indifference And Ultimate Reality, Brian J. Reis

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

Satan has captured the imagination of writers in the English language for centuries. This figure and the notion of evil have gone through many changes in English literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. Something changed Satan during this time, and made him into an arbiter of truth rather than a figure of rebellion. In The Mysterious Stranger, Mark Twain used him as the grand narrator of the universe who explains the truth of all existence, that life is an illusion. The American horror author H.P. Lovecraft carried this one step further, using Rudolf Otto's mysterium horrendum to divest Satan …

Godly Heretics: Essays On Alternative Christianity In Literature And Popular Culture, Marc Dipaolo

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

"When computers freeze, they are "rebooted" and soon working properly again. Similarly, legendary thinkers throughout history have argued that Christianity should start fresh by recapturing the humanitarian spirit of Jesus' original message. These include such disparate individuals as Thomas Jefferson, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Walt Whitman, Friedrich Nietzsche, Leo Tolstoy, George Bernard Shaw, and the religious leaders of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Surprisingly enough, even classic television shows and films meant to be entertaining--Lost, Battlestar Galactica, It's a Wonderful Life, Groundhog Day, Decalogue, and A Charlie Brown Christmas--are attempts to apply the basic principles of Christianity to modern times. …

Wisdom From A Lost Friend To A New Friend, Veronica Murphy

Common Reading Essay Contest Winners

Third Place

The Scarlet Letter: A Façade For Subversion Of Patriarchy, Tessa Arnold

The Corinthian

This essay will work in two parts. First, it will examine The Scarlet Letter as representing a dystopian society created by political and religious leaders’ thirst for power and control above the needs and desires of the people whom they are supposed to protect. The second part of this essay will examine the effects of the dystopian Puritan society specifically as it relates to Hester Prynne.