{"product_id":"cults-and-conspiracies-a-literary-history-paperback","title":"Cults and Conspiracies: A Literary History - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eTheodore Ziolkowski\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eExplore 2,000 years of conspiracy in literature.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOutstanding Academic Title, \u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHuman 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFascination 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eCults and Conspiracies\u003c\/i\u003e considers Euripides's \u003ci\u003eBacchae\u003c\/i\u003e, Andreae's \u003ci\u003eChymical Wedding\u003c\/i\u003e, Mozart's \u003ci\u003eThe Magic Flute\u003c\/i\u003e, and Eco's \u003ci\u003eFoucault's Pendulum\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTheodore Ziolkowski\u003c\/b\u003e is professor emeritus of German and comparative literature at Princeton University. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eUses and Abuses of Moses: Literary Representations since the Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGerman Romanticism and Its Institutions\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eAlchemist in Literature: From Dante to the Present.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 248\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.56 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 22, 2016\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52915379175731,"sku":"9781421422435","price":54.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/29Dfmci9Jw9781421422435.webp?v=1767268760","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/en-ca\/products\/cults-and-conspiracies-a-literary-history-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}