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Technology Towards Transcendence

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Technology Towards Transcendence TECHNOLOGY TOWARDS TRANSCENDENCE APOCALYPTIC SPIRITUALITIES & THE GENESIS OF SCIENCE FICTION IN WEIMAR GERMANY _______________________________________ A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the History Department at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts _____________________________________________________ by COLTON J. OCHSNER DR. JONATHAN SPERBER, Thesis Supervisor MAY 2015 ! © Copyright by Colton Ochsner 2015 All Rights Reserved! The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the thesis entitled TECHNOLOGY TOWARDS TRANSCENDENCE: APOCALYPTIC SPIRITUALITIES & THE GENESIS OF SCIENCE FICTION IN WEIMAR GERMANY presented by Colton J. Ochsner, a candidate for the degree of master of history, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Professor Jonathan Sperber Professor John Frymire Professor Kristin Kopp! ! ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work is indebted to those scholars at the University of Missouri who, collaborating from their various expertises, made its assemblage possible. These scholars include Dr. Jonathan Sperber of the History Department, professor of modern German history and the author’s advisor; Dr. John Frymire of the History Department, professor of early modern German history; and Dr. Kristin Kopp of the German & Russian Studies Department, professor of German literature. Along with the erudite insights each has offered in the rapid culmination of this work, becoming acquainted with their fields of study has allowed this work itself to flourish. In addition, this work would not have been possible without years of private tutelage by my late maternal grandfather, Franklin C. Jared. Only further research can shed light upon what this work humbly begins to illuminate. ! ! ! TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... ii INTRODUCTION: AMBIGUOUS DEMARCATIONS .................................................................. iii Brief Overview of Content & Argument ........................................................................ iv Methodology & Shortcomings ..................................................................................... viii Outline of Chapters ...................................................................................................... xvi CHAPTER ONE: THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF GNOSTICISM ..........................................1 SECULAR UNIVERSITIES & THE HUMAN SCIENCES ............................................................3 The Christ Myth .......................................................................................................6 The “Conflict between Babel & the Bible” ...........................................................11 The Turfan Expeditions .........................................................................................15 The New Perspective .............................................................................................20 ESOTERIC SCHOOLS & THE “SPIRITUAL SCIENCES” .........................................................24 Ordo Templi Orientis .............................................................................................27 The Anthroposophical Society ...............................................................................34 THE APPLICABILITY OF GNOSTICISM IN MODERNITY ......................................................43 CHAPTER TWO: THE RECURRENCE OF THE PAST ................................................................57 THE FANTASTIC AS SCIENTIFIC FACT ..............................................................................60 Thresholds into the Transcendental .......................................................................61 Naturalizing the Supernatural, Supernaturalizing the Natural ...............................72 THE FANTASTIC AS MYSTICAL EXPRESSION ....................................................................82 Illumination of the Page .........................................................................................83 Illumination of the Screen ......................................................................................94 THE LIMITLESSNESS OF REALITY ..................................................................................105 CHAPTER THREE: REVELATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE ............................................................116 QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY ...............................................................................................120 Withdrawing from the World ...............................................................................121 From Belief to Knowledge ...................................................................................131 “THE LIGHT BRINGER” ..................................................................................................144 Out of the Past ......................................................................................................146 Into the Future ......................................................................................................155 INNER SPARK ................................................................................................................174 CHAPTER FOUR: GNOSTIC FORCES IN THE ABSURDITY OF POSTWAR MODERNISM ...........188 FORCES OF DARKNESS ...................................................................................................191 The Demiurge & the Archons ..............................................................................193 Technocratic Transliterations ...............................................................................202 FORCES OF LIGHT ..........................................................................................................214 The Two Sophias & the Christos .........................................................................216 Fantasies of Redemption ......................................................................................233 MICROCOSM, MACROCOSM ...........................................................................................246 As Above, So Below ............................................................................................248 ! ! As Within, So Without .........................................................................................255 CHAPTER FIVE: ASCENT THROUGH THE HEAVENS ............................................................262 THE GOSPEL IN THE SKY ...............................................................................................266 Solar Wisdom of Biblical Myth ...........................................................................267 Esoteric Astrology ...............................................................................................273 ASTRAL MYTHS OF THE FUTURE ...................................................................................280 From Alpha to Omega .........................................................................................282 Heuristic Optics ...................................................................................................286 SIGNS IN THE SKY ABOVE METROPOLIS .........................................................................292 Prelude .................................................................................................................292 Cycle 1: Aries ......................................................................................................294 Cycle 2: Taurus ....................................................................................................300 Cycle 3: Gemini ...................................................................................................309 Cycle 4: Cancer ....................................................................................................320 THE PRIMACY OF ALLEGORY ........................................................................................328 CONCLUSION: LAST THINGS .............................................................................................339 BIBLIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY .....................................................................................346 ! ! ! LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................ 57-112 Fig. 2.1: Wunder der Schöpfung, Pyramid ...................................................................113 Fig. 2.2: Wunder der Schöpfung, Spaceship launch .....................................................113 Fig. 2.3: Metropolis, Astrologer-Priests .......................................................................113 Fig. 2.4: Metropolis, Tower of Babel destroyed ..........................................................113 Fig. 2.5: Lemuria, Book Cover ....................................................................................114 Fig. 2.6: Albin Grau’s film poster for Nosferatu ..........................................................114 Fig. 2.7: Saturn-Gnosis, Albin Grau’s artwork ............................................................114 Fig. 2.8: Werner Graul’s film poster for Metropolis ....................................................114 Fig. 2.9: Werner Graul’s illustration for Moses Entlarvt .............................................115 Fig. 2.10: Publicity photo of Fritz Lang and
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