Read Cults and Conspiracies: A Literary History

Cults and Conspiracies: A Literary History

Theodore Ziolkowski

4.9/5 (19958 ratings)

Description:Human beings have believed in conspiracies presumably as long as there have been groups of at least three people in which one was convinced that the other two were plotting against him or her. In that sense one might look back as far as Eve and the serpent to find the world's first conspiracy. Whereas recent generations have tended to find their conspiracies in politics and government, the past often sought its mysteries in religious cults or associations. In ancient Rome, for example, the senate tried to prohibit the cult of Isis lest its euphoric excesses undermine public morality and political stability. And during the Middle Ages, many rulers feared such powerful and mysterious religious orders as the Knights Templar.Fascination with the arcane is a driving force in this comprehensive survey of conspiracy fiction. Theodore Ziolkowski traces the evolution of cults, orders, lodges, secret societies, and conspiracies through various literary manifestations--drama, romance, epic, novel, opera--down to the thrillers of the twenty-first century. Arguing that the lure of the arcane throughout the ages has remained a constant factor of human fascination, Ziolkowski demonstrates that the content of conspiracy has shifted from religion by way of philosophy and social theory to politics. In the process, he reveals, the underlying mythic pattern was gradually co-opted for the subversive ends of conspiracy.Cults and Conspiracies considers Euripides's Bacchae, Andreae's Chymical Wedding, Mozart's The Magic Flute, and Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, among other seminal works. Mimicking the genre's quest-driven narrative arc, the reader searches for the significance of conspiracy fiction and is rewarded with the author's cogent reflections in the final chapter. After much investigation, Ziolkowski reinforces Umberto Eco's notion that the most powerful secret, the magnetic center of conspiracy fiction, is in fact "a secret without content."We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Cults and Conspiracies: A Literary History. To get started finding Cults and Conspiracies: A Literary History, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Pages: —

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: —

Release: —

ISBN: 1421422433

Description: Human beings have believed in conspiracies presumably as long as there have been groups of at least three people in which one was convinced that the other two were plotting against him or her. In that sense one might look back as far as Eve and the serpent to find the world's first conspiracy. Whereas recent generations have tended to find their conspiracies in politics and government, the past often sought its mysteries in religious cults or associations. In ancient Rome, for example, the senate tried to prohibit the cult of Isis lest its euphoric excesses undermine public morality and political stability. And during the Middle Ages, many rulers feared such powerful and mysterious religious orders as the Knights Templar.Fascination with the arcane is a driving force in this comprehensive survey of conspiracy fiction. Theodore Ziolkowski traces the evolution of cults, orders, lodges, secret societies, and conspiracies through various literary manifestations--drama, romance, epic, novel, opera--down to the thrillers of the twenty-first century. Arguing that the lure of the arcane throughout the ages has remained a constant factor of human fascination, Ziolkowski demonstrates that the content of conspiracy has shifted from religion by way of philosophy and social theory to politics. In the process, he reveals, the underlying mythic pattern was gradually co-opted for the subversive ends of conspiracy.Cults and Conspiracies considers Euripides's Bacchae, Andreae's Chymical Wedding, Mozart's The Magic Flute, and Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, among other seminal works. Mimicking the genre's quest-driven narrative arc, the reader searches for the significance of conspiracy fiction and is rewarded with the author's cogent reflections in the final chapter. After much investigation, Ziolkowski reinforces Umberto Eco's notion that the most powerful secret, the magnetic center of conspiracy fiction, is in fact "a secret without content."We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Cults and Conspiracies: A Literary History. To get started finding Cults and Conspiracies: A Literary History, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Special Offer | $0.00

Special Offer! | $0.00

Cults and Conspiracies: A Literary History

Cults and Conspiracies: A Literary History

More Books

The Glass Bead Game

The Glass Bead Game

Gilgamesh Among Us: Modern Encounters with the Ancient Epic

Gilgamesh Among Us: Modern Encounters with the Ancient Epic

The Novels of Hermann Hesse: A Study in Theme & Structure

The Novels of Hermann Hesse: A Study in Theme & Structure

Hesitant Heroes: Private Inhibition, Cultural Crisis

Hesitant Heroes: Private Inhibition, Cultural Crisis

The View from the Tower: Origins of an Antimodernist Image (Princeton Legacy Library) by Theodore Ziolkowski (1998-09-13)

The View from the Tower: Origins of an Antimodernist Image (Princeton Legacy Library) by Theodore Ziolkowski (1998-09-13)

[Scandal on Stage: European Theater as Moral Trial] [Author: Ziolkowski, Theodore] [September, 2009]

[Scandal on Stage: European Theater as Moral Trial] [Author: Ziolkowski, Theodore] [September, 2009]

[The Sin of Knowledge: Ancient Themes and Modern Variations] [Author: Ziolkowski, Theodore Comp] [October, 2000]

[The Sin of Knowledge: Ancient Themes and Modern Variations] [Author: Ziolkowski, Theodore Comp] [October, 2000]

[The Mirror of Justice: Literary Reflections Of Legal Crises] [Author: Ziolkowski, Theodore] [March, 2003]

[The Mirror of Justice: Literary Reflections Of Legal Crises] [Author: Ziolkowski, Theodore] [March, 2003]

The Mirror of Justice: Literary Reflections of Legal Crises by Theodore Ziolkowski (1997-04-22)

The Mirror of Justice: Literary Reflections of Legal Crises by Theodore Ziolkowski (1997-04-22)