Eric Voegelin and Gnostic Hollywood

Cinematic Portrayals of the Immanentization of the Eschaton in Dark City (1998) and Pleasantville (1998)

Bibliographic Data

ID21249405
AuthorsFryderyk Kwiatkowski (0000-0003-4495-0801, Jagiellonian University, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume5
Issue2
Pages220-242
Publication date2020-09-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGnosis (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2451-859X • E-ISSN: 2451-8581
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/2451859x-12340094
OpenAlexW3091611881
LanguageEN
References cited8

In the first part of the paper, I will provide an overview of Eric Voegelin’s early thesis about Gnosis which he formulated in The New Science of Politics (1952) and Science, Politics, and Gnosticism (1968). A special attention will be paid to the idea of the immanentization of the eschaton which remains in the center of his argument. In the second part of the paper, I will analyze two Hollywood films in the light of Voegelin’s thesis: Dark City (1998) and Pleasantville (1998). Firstly, I will argue that the main characters depicted in the films can be classified as Gnostics in Voegelin’s sense. Secondly, I will demonstrate that their revolutionary acts reflect the idea of the immanentization of the eschaton

Art · Art history · Epistemology · Gnosticism · Hollywood · Literature · Political science · Politics · Chemistry · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Violence, Religion, and Philosophy

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