Paper no.110 A HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATRE FROM : 1900 to 2000
Topic: Apocalyptic literature
Name:Pandya Mayuri
Roll no.14
Enroll no.4069206420210023
Email id: pandyamayuri0610@gmail.com
Batch:2021 to 2023
Submitted to: S.B.Gardi Department of English MKBU.
Apocalyptic literature, literary genre that foretells supernaturally inspired cataclysmic events that will transpire at the end of the world. A product of the Judeo-Christian tradition, apocalyptic literature is characteristically pseudonymous; it takes narrative form, employs esoteric language, expresses a pessimistic view of the present, and treats the final events as imminent.
The earliest apocalypses are Jewish works that date from about 200 BCE to about 165 BCE. Whereas earlier Jewish writers, the Prophets, had foretold the coming of disasters, often in esoteric language, they neither placed these disasters in a narrative framework nor conceived of them in eschatological terms. During the time of the Hellenistic domination of Palestine and the revolt of the Maccabees, however, a pessimistic view of the present became coupled with an expectation of an apocalyptic scenario, which is characterized by an imminent crisis, a universal judgment, and a supernatural resolution.
The most famous and influential of the early Jewish apocalypses is the last part of the biblical Book of Daniel (chapters 7–12), written about 167 BCE and attributed to a revered wise man who supposedly lived some four centuries earlier at the time of the Babylonian captivity. “Daniel” recounts a series of visions, the first of which (chapter 7) is the most succinct. He sees a succession of four terrible beasts, evidently representing a succession of earthly persecutors culminating in the contemporary Hellenistic tyrant Antiochus IV Epiphanes (the “eleventh horn” of the fourth beast). Daniel then sees the destruction of the last beast by the “Ancient of Days” and the coming of “one like the Son of Man,” to whom is given “everlasting dominion that shall not pass away” and whose kingdom will be inhabited by “the people of the saints,” who will forever serve and obey him.
The other Jewish apocalypses—the first Book of Enoch (c. 200 BCE), the fourth Book of Ezra (c. 100 CE), and the second and third Books of Baruch (c. 100 CE)—are “apocryphal” insofar as they do not belong to the canonical Hebrew Bible. They are extant in Ethiopic, Syriac, Greek, and Latin translations made by Christians rather than in their original Hebrew or Aramaic forms. The reason that the apocalypses survived in this manner seems to be that, after the failure of a series of Jewish revolts against the Roman Empire (i.e., after about 135 CE), the rabbis who began the process of codifying the Jewish tradition turned away from apocalypticism to an emphasis on upholding and interpreting the law of the Pentateuch. Fatefully, however, while Jewish apocalypticism was still flourishing, it was taken up by Christians.
Most authorities regard early Christianity as a fervently apocalyptic religion, intent on the imminent “Second Coming” of Christ to preside over the Last Judgment and the end of the world. Early Christian apocalypticism is evident in the Gospels, which are permeated with language taken from Daniel. The so-called Little Apocalypse, a sermon by Jesus found in Matthew (24–25) with parallels in Mark (13) and Luke (21), foretells the imminence of collective tribulation and chastisement before the coming of the “Son of Man” who will “sit upon the throne of his glory” and separate “the sheep from the goats.” Some Pauline epistles also contain apocalyptic content. The last book of the New Testament, the Revelation to John, also known as the Apocalypse of St. John (the Greek term apokalypsis literally means revelation), concludes canonical Christian scripture in a ringingly apocalyptic key. Written in Asia Minor about 95 CE by a Christian named John (the fact that the author gives his true name is the one major exception to the rule of pseudonymity), the Revelation offers a vibrant, sometimes lurid, account of imminent crisis, judgment, and salvation. Evidently obsessed by the persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire, which he refers to as “Babylon,” John recounts a series of visions that foretell a crescendo of persecutions and martyrdoms followed by universal judgment, retribution for the forces of evil, and rewards for the faithful. Details are often impenetrable because of esoteric allusive language (e.g., “a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet…being with child [and] travailing in birth”). Moreover, the narrative is bewildering because it repeats itself frequently. Nevertheless, the psychedelic imagery is easily etched in the mind, and the mysteries found in the text have proved endlessly fascinating. Nor can there be any doubt of their ultimate message: the world, which is already suffering, will soon be washed in blood, but the “King of Kings” will come to “tread the winepress of the wrath of God,” and everlasting rewards will be given to those who have “washed their robes in the blood of the lamb.” (Revelation 14:19)
A number of other Christian apocalypses were written during the period between 100 CE and 400 CE, including the Apocalypse of Peter, the Apocalypse of Paul, the Ascension of Isaiah, and the Testament of Abraham. Although these works adhere to apocalyptic form in recounting supernatural visions pseudonymously in esoteric language, they refer to an individual’s salvation and lack the characteristic apocalyptic content of treating collective history and collective salvation. The trend toward concentrating on individual salvation was reinforced in the theology of the leading Church Fathers, preeminently St. Augustine. The Fathers were eschatological insofar as they believed in the Last Judgment but non-apocalyptic in that they insisted that the time of the last act of history was utterly uncertain. Yet beliefs inherited from Daniel and the New Testament permitted the survival of apocalyptic thinking in the Middle Ages and led to the creation of new apocalyptic works, such as the Revelations of Pseudo-Methodius (mid-7th century) and the Vision of Brother John (late 13th century). Many medieval authors also wrote pseudonymous prophecies that did not take the form of narrative visions but foresaw imminent crisis, judgment, and salvation.
Although the apocalyptic genre disappeared after the Middle Ages, an apocalyptic mood, reinforced by explicit references to the Revelation to John, appears in numerous modern literary works (e.g., Katherine Anne Porter’s Pale Horse, Pale Rider [1939] and Nathanael West’s Day of the Locust [1939]) and films (e.g., Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal [1957] and Federico Fellini’s La dolce vita [1959]). Moreover, several Protestant denominations in the United States propound apocalyptic beliefs, which have been expressed in numerous sermons and pamphlets by such preachers as Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell, as well in a book that was an American best seller, Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth (1970). The Left Behind series of novels (the first was published in 1995) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, which describe apocalyptic events in particularly violent terms, achieved phenomenal popularity. It is estimated that 40 million copies of books in the Left Behind series were in print by the early 21st century, and a computer game based on the series was also produced.
Connection with Bible :
Revelation to John, also called Book of Revelation or Apocalypse of John, abbreviation Revelation, last book of the New Testament. It is the only book of the New Testament classified as apocalyptic literature rather than didactic or historical, indicating thereby its extensive use of visions, symbols, and allegory, especially in connection with future events. Revelation to John appears to be a collection of separate units composed by unknown authors who lived during the last quarter of the 1st century, though it purports to have been written by an individual named John—who calls himself “the servant” of Jesus—at Patmos, in the Aegean Sea. The text includes no indication that John of Patmos and St. John the Apostle are the same person.
The book comprises two main parts, the first of which (chapters 2–3) contains moral admonitions (but no visions or symbolism) in individual letters addressed to the seven Christian churches of Asia Minor. In the second part (chapters 4–22:5), visions, allegories, and symbols (to a great extent unexplained) so pervade the text that exegetes necessarily differ in their interpretations. Many scholars, however, agree that Revelation is not simply an abstract spiritual allegory divorced from historical events, nor merely a prophecy concerning the final upheaval at the end of the world, couched in obscure language. Rather, it deals with a contemporary crisis of faith, probably brought on by Roman persecutions. Christians are consequently exhorted to remain steadfast in their faith and to hold firmly to the hope that God will ultimately be victorious over his (and their) enemies. Because such a view presents current problems in an eschatological context, the message of Revelation also becomes relevant to future generations of Christians who, Christ forewarned, would likewise suffer persecution. The victory of God over Satan and his Antichrist (in this case, the perseverance of Christians in the face of Roman persecution) typifies similar victories over evil in ages still to come and God’s final victory at the end of time.
Although Christ is clearly the central figure of Revelation, an understanding of the text presupposes familiarity with Old Testament language and concepts, especially those taken from the books of Daniel and Ezekiel. The author uses the number seven, for example, in a symbolic sense to signify “totality” or “perfection.” References to “a thousand years” (chapter 20) have led some to expect that the final victory over evil will come after the completion of some millennium (see Millennialism).
“Apocalyptic literature” refers to the ancient Jewish and Christian documents that share common concerns, themes, and literary devices with the books of Daniel and Revelation and other literary apocalypses. In addition to Daniel and Revelation, prominent literary apocalypses include 1 Enoch, 2 and 3 Baruch, 4 Ezra, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Apocalypse of Peter. Collaborative research and multiauthor anthologies have contributed greatly to the study of apocalyptic literature. For multiauthor works, this entry generally refers to the entire book, citing especially important essays where appropriate. Some treatments approach apocalyptic literature in terms of the classical literary apocalypses, but the phenomenon of apocalyptic literature extends well beyond those boundaries. This entry does not emphasize discrete apocalyptic texts; instead, it addresses the major questions that have occupied scholars: the historical origins, social settings, development, and interpretation of ancient Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature. During the 1970s and 1980s, consensus emerged regarding two issues. First, a common generic definition regards a literary apocalypse as a narrative account of a revelatory experience involving a visionary and an otherworldly interpreter. Second, whereas “apocalyptic” once functioned as a noun that encompassed all things apocalyptic, interpreters gravitated toward more-precise distinctions between literary apocalypses (genre), apocalyptic eschatology (ideas), apocalypticism (movements), and apocalyptic discourse (modes of communication). Nevertheless, defining apocalyptic literature, whether in terms of a literary genre, a communicative function, or a body of literature with common characteristics, remains a crucial problem in scholarship.
What Are the Origins of Apocalyptic Fiction?
Apocalyptic literature has existed for millenia. Major western religions ranging from Christianity, Islam, and Judaism contain multiple tales of a civilization or locale reaching its end. The stories of the garden of Eden, Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the book of Revelation all contain apocalyptic themes. The ancient Mesopatamian epic of Gilgamesh is also concerned with the end of the known world. Apocalyptic stories of Babylon have been written all the way from antiquity to the present.
The Romantic and Gothic authors of the early nineteenth century explored apocalyptic themes, perhaps most famously in Mary Shelley's The Last Man (1826). Edgar Allan Poe's 1839 short story "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion" centers on disembodied souls discussing the recent destruction of the Earth.
In the twentieth century, the apocalyptic genre grew in the wake of World War I, World War II, and the Cold War nuclear arms race. Novelists, essayists, and filmmakers conjured many an apocalyptic world that offered everything from zombie wars to a desolate post-nuclear wastelands.
7 Common Themes in Apocalyptic Fiction
The themes that govern apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic books tend to involve circumstances that lead to mass unrest, societal breakdown, and widespread death. These includes:
1. Climate change
2.Nuclear holocaust
3.Medical pandemic
4.The rise of sentient robots
5.The destruction of a major city like New York, Los Angeles, or London
6.Endless war
7.A fascist government engaged in mind control
In novels with these themes, a main character is usually tasked with navigating the deathtraps of a world afflicted by the prevailing apocalyptic conditions.
Examples of Apocalyptic Fiction
The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have given rise to what many consider the best post-apocalyptic books and post-apocalyptic stories ever written. These books are often also cross-categorized as dystopian fiction and speculative fiction. Some also fit the young adult subgenre. Here are some highlights of the genre, divided by theme:
Post-Disaster Wastelands
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Stand by Stephen King
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
One Second After by William R. Forstchen
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Swan Song by Robert McCammon
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
The Postman by David Brin
"A Boy and His Dog" by Harlan Ellison
Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam, a trilogy by Margaret Atwood
The Mad Max film series by James McCausland and George Miller
Nature Gone Awry
Zombie Apocalypse
World War Z by Max Brooks
The Walking Dead, a graphic novel series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Dystopian Governments
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Children of Men by P.D. James (2424 words)
Works Cited
Carey, Greg. “Apocalyptic Literature - Biblical Studies.” Oxford Bibliographies, 27 July 2011, https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-0005.xml. Accessed 8 May 2022.
Lerner, Robert E. “apocalyptic literature | literary genre | Britannica.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/art/apocalyptic-literature. Accessed 8 May 2022.
“What Is Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction? - 2022.” MasterClass, 29 September 2021, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-apocalyptic-and-post-apocalyptic-fiction#zombie-apocalypse. Accessed 8 May 2022.
