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Science Fiction and Religion: a Pa- Rallel Between the Time Machine and Perelandra*

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Science Fiction and Religion: a Pa- Rallel Between the Time Machine and Perelandra* Science Fiction and Religion: A pa- rallel between The Time Machine and Perelandra* Fecha de recepción: 17 de julio de 2020 Fecha de aprobación: 02 de septiembre de 2020 Abstract Naiara Sales Araújo C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy is the only daring excursion the author Doutora em Literatura Comparada does in the world of science fiction genre. Thus, this article has as pela Universidade Metropolitana main goal to raise discussion on the elements of science fiction and de Londres; Professora do mestra- religion present on Perelandra (1943), core novel of C. S. Lewis’s do Acadêmico em Letras da Uni- Space Trilogy and H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine (1895). To this versidade Federal do Maranhão- end, it is drawn a parallel between these novels in order to demons- [email protected]; trate the deep discussion on religious and scientific issues explored by Lewis and Wells, as well as shown their humanistic and religious http:orcid.org/0000-0002-9362- views of the process of scientific development. As theoretical su- 559X pport, we build on the literary scholarship of Frye, (2004), Suvin (1979), McGrath (2020), among others. Through the discussion Livia Fernanda Diniz Gomes provided in this study it is possible to notice that Perelandra dis- Mestra em Letras pela Universida- plays verisimilitude to The Time Machine in the narrative structure de Federal do Maranhão; Professo- and plot. Both novels present eschatological characteristic, since ra de Lingua Inglesa do Instituto the writers deal with the future of humanity, evolution process and Federal do Maranhão, Brasil. livia. its philosophical implications. For all those features, one can infer [email protected] that both Perelandra and The Time Machine bring a deep reflection embedded in religious and humanistic knowledge and discussions. * Artículo de investigação. Keywords: Perelandra, religion, science fiction, The time machine. Citar: Araujo, N, Diniz, L. (2020). Relaciones entre la poesía de José Ángel Valente y la mú- sica espectral. La Palabra, (39), 71-84. https://doi.org/10.19053/01218530.n39.2020.10910 71 La Palabra No. 39 Tunja, Octubre - Diciembre de 2020, ISSN:0121-8530 - EISSN:2346-3864 pp.71-84 Ciencia ficción y religión: un paralelo entre La Máquina del Tiempo y Perelandra Resumen La Trilogía Espacial de C.S. Lewis, a pesar de no ser una de sus obras de ficción más famosas, tiene una característica única entre el conjunto de sus escritos: es la única incursión atrevida que hace el autor en el mundo del género de la ciencia ficción.La Máquina del Tiempo es una de las novelas de ciencia ficción más famosas escritas por H. G. Well. Este artículo tiene como objetivo principal plantear la discusión sobre los elementos de ciencia ficción y religión presentes en Perelandra (1943), novela central de la Trilogía Espacial de C.S. Lewis y La máquina del tiempo de H.G. Wells (1895). Para ello, se traza un paralelo entre estas novelas con el fin de demostrar la profunda discusión sobre temas religiosos y cien- tíficos explorados por Lewis y Wells, así como mostrar sus visiones humanistas y religiosas del proceso de desarrollo científico.Palabras llave: Perelandra; Religión; Ciencia ficción; La Maquina del tiempo. Palabras clave: La máquina del tiempo, ciencia ficción,Pelelandra , religión. Ciência ficção e religião: um paralelo entre A máquina do tempo e Perelandra Resumo A Trilogia Espacial de C.S. Lewis, apesar de não ser uma das suas obras de ficção mais renomadas, tem uma característica única entre o conjunto dos seus escritos: é a única incursão arriscada que o autor faz no mundo do gênero da ciência ficção. A máquina do tempo é um dos romances de ciência ficção mais famosos escritos por H. G. Well. Este artigo tem como objetivo principal propor uma discussão sobre os elementos da ciência ficção e da religião presentes em Perelandra (1943), romance central da Trilogia Espacial de C.S. Lewis e A máquina do tempo de H.G. Wells (1895). Assim, é elaborado um paralelo entre esses dois romances com o propósito de demostrar a profunda discussão sobre temas religiosos e científicos trabalhados por Lewis e Wells, e mostrar suas visões humanistas e religiosas do processo de desenvolvimento cientifico. Palavras-chave: Perelandra, religião, ciência ficção, A máquina do tempo. Introduction La Palabra No. 39 Tunja, Octubre - Diciembre de 2020, ISSN:0121-8530 - EISSN:2346-3864 pp.71-84 72 Science Fiction and Religion: A parallel between The Time Machine and Perelandra Naiara Sales Araújo Livia Fernanda Diniz Gomes In his most recent work, Scien- future, in whose works are Tate, works such as Towards ce & Religion: A New Introduc- described planetary systems, a Christian Literary Theory tion (2020) Alister E. McGrath heavenly beings, war of the (2003), by Luke Ferretter, Ni- states that the study of Science worlds and the longed for co- neteenth-century Religion and and Religion brings two of the ming of the new age. (Kreu- Literature (2006), by Mark ziger, 1986, p. 3) most significant and different Knight and Emma Mason, Lite- forces in human culture: spiri- rature, Theology and Feminism Indeed, the importance of Bible tuality and the great mysteries (2007), by Heather Walther as inspiration for the first lite- of human nature and destiny. I have contributed to an increa- rary works or even for the first would say that Literature does sing of number of studies fo- scientific inventions seems to the same: a literary narrative is cusing on the relation between be acceptable for a huge num- able to construct an imaginative Literature and Religion. ber of scholars, such as the universe that can transport man ones we have mentioned in this to other planets or universes The human being, despite of study. The importance of the in order to provide a reflection other animals, is not simply im- Bible for the scientific task of about the real world. In this sen- mersed in nature. Humanity is understanding the natural world se, C. S. Lewis and H. G. Well part of a mythological universe has conflicted the minds of reli- prominent writers and they pro- formed by a set of assumptions gious people at least as far back bably found inspiration in reli- and beliefs developed from its as the time of Augustine1. Re- gious narratives. existential concerns. Fragments cently, there has been an increa- of this set are (consciously or sing number of studies and re- For the critic Frederic Kreu- unconsciously) embedded wi- searches seeking to analyze the ziger (1986), Science Fiction thin peoples’ cultures, indepen- role of scripture in episodes that historians, fans and critics have dent of how different they may explore scientific experiments. traced the genre roots down be, and can be recognized when In this sense, Science Fiction through centuries of adventu- displayed in arts in general. genre seems to be a fertile field rous tales and speculative fabu- Myths and literature have been to provide discussion dealing lation: walking together for as long as with Religion and Science. they came to being. In the epic Gilgamesh certainly deserves Gilgamesh, in Homer’s The Od- In this line of discussion, An- the honor of being the first yssey and The Iliad and in the drew Tate ( 2009) points that and earliest protagonist, and oldest parts of the Bible myth literary studies itself has been Frankenstein one of the more and literature are inseparable reinvigorated during the last notoriously recent. In be- elements, one being an integral tween, the litany of forerun- twenty years by its encounter part of the development of the ners includes the works of with Theology in a variety of other. Lucian, Campanella, Bacon, manifestations, and it briefly de Bergerac, and Voltaire. considers the significance of Greco-Roman mythology, for ins- But rarely, if ever, does one Religion in period research on find mention of Daniel, John, tance, has had great influence in the Renaissance, Romanticism, Moses, Baruch, or Ezra as Western literature. Homer, Vir- being among the earliest of Victorian literature, and Post- gil and Ovid among others were visionaries and tellers of the modernism. According to translated and became influential 1 Augustine (354—430 C.E.) St. Augustine is a fourth century philosopher whose groundbreaking philosophy infused Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism. He is famous for being an inimitable Catholic theologian and for his agnostic contributions to Western philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019). 73 La Palabra No. 39 Tunja, Octubre - Diciembre de 2020, ISSN:0121-8530 - EISSN:2346-3864 pp.71-84 on writers in the Medieval Period, dge when he was lecturing about vid’s, Job’s, Peter’s and Paul’s Renaissance, in the eighteenth cen- Milton and writing about Blake, stories, among others, implying tury (despite of the Enlightenment exposing that an English literature that those minor events carry a thinkers’ focus on scientific and student who doesn’t know the Bi- greater and significant symbo- philosophical achievements ins- ble would have problems unders- lism in parallel to major plot of tead of myths), in Romanticism, in tanding great part of what he reads the nineteenth and twentieth centu- (Frye, 2004, p.10). Frye states that Israel’s path through the axis ries in both Europe and America. no book would have such a broad creation-fall-exodus-destruc- Dante Alighieri in Italy during the literary influence without having tion-redemption. Several recu- 1300’s; Geoffrey Chaucer during some literary characteristics itself rrent images appear throughout Middle English period and William and that making a literary approach Old and New Testament, such Shakespeare in High Renaissance, of the Bible would be legit. Poetry, as bread, wine, bride, lamb, both in England; Jean Racine and heroic narratives, parables, epist- sheep, shepherd, oil, river, tree, his classicist plays in seventeenth les, proverbs, allegories and me- garden, mountain, city and century France, as well as Johann taphors are some examples of this.
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