Kornelia Boczkowska Space exploration in 20th century American and Soviet literature and art Praca doktorska napisana na Wydziale Anglistyki Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu pod kierunkiem prof. zw. dr hab. Wojciecha Lipońskiego Poznań, 2015 Poznań, dnia ............................ OŚWIADCZENIE Ja, niżej podpisany/a ...................................................................... student/ka Wydziału Anglistyki Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu oświadczam, że przedkładaną pracę dyplomową pt: ........................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................... napisałem/napisałam samodzielnie. Oznacza to, że przy pisaniu pracy, poza niezbędnymi konsultacjami, nie korzystałem/am z pomocy innych osób, a w szczególności nie zlecałem/am opracowania rozprawy lub jej części innym osobom, ani nie odpisywałem/am tej rozprawy lub jej części od innych osób. Oświadczam również, że egzemplarz pracy dyplomowej w formie wydruku komputerowego jest zgodny z egzemplarzem pracy dyplomowej w formie elektronicznej. Jednocześnie przyjmuję do wiadomości, że przypisanie sobie, w pracy dyplomowej, autorstwa istotnego fragmentu lub innych elementów cudzego utworu lub ustalenia naukowego stanowi podstawę stwierdzenia nieważności postępowania w sprawie nadania tytułu zawodowego. [ ]* - wyrażam zgodę na udostępnianie mojej pracy w czytelni Archiwum UAM [ ]* - wyrażam zgodę na udostępnianie mojej pracy w zakresie koniecznym do ochrony mojego prawa do autorstwa lub praw osób trzecich *Należy wpisać TAK w przypadku wyrażenia zgody na udostępnianie pracy w czytelni Archiwum UAM, NIE w przypadku braku zgody. Niewypełnienie pola oznacza brak zgody na udostępnianie pracy. (czytelny podpis studenta) ii Table of contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ III LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................X INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: RUSSIAN COSMISM ......................................................................... 10 1.1. RUSSIAN COSMISM: TOWARD A DEFINITION ......................................................... 11 1.1.1. Cosmism in the context of 19th and early 20th century Russian philosophy, culture and literature .............................................................................................. 16 1.1.2. Mystic, esoteric and occult dimensions of Cosmism ..................................... 18 1.1.3. Religious and scientific Cosmists ................................................................. 22 1.2. NIKOLAI FEDOROV AND THE COMMON TASK........................................................ 23 1.3. RELIGIOUS COSMISTS ............................................................................................ 31 1.3.1. Vladimir Solov’ev ......................................................................................... 31 1.3.2. Sergei Bulgakov and Pavel Florenskii .......................................................... 34 1.3.3. Nikolai Berdiaev ........................................................................................... 40 1.3.3.1. A nationalist dimension of Cosmism: Berdiaev and the Russian Soul .. 43 1.3.4. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 54 1.4. SCIENTIFIC COSMISTS ........................................................................................... 55 1.4.1. Alexandr Sukhovo-Kobylin: The forerunner of scientific Cosmism ............. 55 1.4.2. Konstantin Tsiolkovskii ................................................................................. 57 1.4.3. Aleksandr Chizhevskii, Vladimir Vernadskii and Vasilii Kuprevich ............ 61 1.4.4. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 67 iii 1.5. COSMISM AND ITS IMPACT ON SELECTED ASPECTS OF 20TH CENTURY RUSSIAN AND SOVIET CULTURE ......................................................................................................... 68 1.6. CONCLUDING REMARKS. THE PRESENT DAY STATUS OF COSMISM. ....................... 78 CHAPTER 2: AMERICAN COSMISM..................................................................... 87 2.1. OUTER SPACE AND SPACE EXPLORATION IN LIGHT OF THE HUMANITIES ................ 88 2.2. DEFINING A SPACE-ORIENTED PHILOSOPHY, ASTROCULTURE AND SPACE ETHOS ... 91 2.2.1. Astroculture .................................................................................................. 94 2.2.2. Space ethos ................................................................................................... 96 2.3. AMERICAN COSMISM .......................................................................................... 100 2.3.1. Spaceflight as a religious experience ......................................................... 102 2.3.1.1. Textual and visual evidence ................................................................. 104 2.3.1.2. Sacred texts, rituals and spaceflight adherents .................................... 114 2.3.1.3. The Overview Effect ............................................................................ 117 2.3.2. The visionaries of space travel ................................................................... 123 2.3.3. The role of national mythologies in envisioning space endeavours ........... 128 2.3.4. Science, esotericism and the occult in American Cosmism ........................ 136 2.3.4.1. The Overview Effect as a salvational worldview: Textual and visual evidence ............................................................................................................ 136 2.3.4.2. The New Age and its impact on American Cosmism .......................... 147 2.3.4.3. SETI as a parapsychical and occultist phenomenon ............................ 155 2.4. CONCLUDING REMARKS. COMPARING RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN COSMISM. ....... 164 CHAPTER 3: AMERICAN AND SOVIET SPACE ART IN THE CONTEXT OF 20TH CULTURE AND LITERATURE ................................................................... 171 3.1. AMERICAN AND RUSSIAN DEFINITIONS OF SPACE ART......................................... 172 3.2. THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN AND SOVIET SPACE ART ......................................... 182 3.2.1. Literary beginnings ..................................................................................... 182 3.2.2. Space art in non-fiction works .................................................................... 192 3.2.3. The rise of space art in American and Soviet magazines and popular science texts ....................................................................................................................... 195 3.2.4. Space art in print and broadcast media since the 1940s ............................ 199 3.2.4.1. The American cultural and literary context ......................................... 199 3.2.4.2. The Soviet cultural and literary context ............................................... 210 iv 3.3. THE LIFE AND WORKS OF CHESLEY BONESTELL, NIKOLAI KOLCHITSKII, ROBERT MCCALL AND ANDREI SOKOLOV ............................................................................... 217 3.3.1. Chesley Bonestell ........................................................................................ 217 3.3.2. Nikolai Kolchitskii ...................................................................................... 221 3.3.3. Robert McCall ............................................................................................. 225 3.3.4. Andrei Sokolov ............................................................................................ 230 3.4. THE AMERICAN TRADITION OF SPACE ART .......................................................... 234 3.4.1. The Hudson River School influences: The sublime and the picturesque .... 234 3.4.2. Realist influences: Manifest Destiny, the NASA Art Programme and the IAAA ...................................................................................................................... 239 3.5. THE SOVIET TRADITION OF SPACE ART ................................................................ 243 3.5.1. Space art in the U.S.S.R. Union of Artists .................................................. 243 3.5.2. The influence of propaganda ...................................................................... 244 3.5.3. Realist, romantic and symbolic influences ................................................. 249 3.6. THE IMPACT OF 20TH CENTURY ADVANCES IN SPACE RESEARCH AND EXPLORATION ON SPACE ART ............................................................................................................ 252 3.7. CONCLUDING REMARKS. THE CURRENT TRENDS IN CONTEMPORARY SPACE ART 259 CHAPTER 4: THE IMPACT OF RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN COSMISM ON THE REPRESENTATION OF SPACE EXPLORATION IN SELECTED WORKS OF AMERICAN AND SOVIET SPACE ART ........................................ 265 4.1. DATA COLLECTION .............................................................................................. 265 4.1.1. Chesley Bonestell’s and Nikolai Kolchitskii’s works ................................