Sacred Space

by Cowan, Douglas E.

• ISBN13: 9781602582385
• ISBN10: 1602582386
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-15
• Publisher: Baylor Univ Pr

Summary

As humans, it is our trust in something larger than ourselves that invests our lives with meaning and value. We hope that outside the boundaries of everyday living there lies something greater. As Doug Cowan argues, science fiction is the genre of possibility and hope, a principal canvas on which writers, artists, and filmmakers have sketched their visions of this transcendent potential for generations. In Sacred Space , he leads readers in a compelling exploration of how this transcendence is manifested in science-fiction cinema and television of today.From the millennial dreams of a future bright with potential to the promise of evolution from some as-yet-undreamed engine of creation, science fiction's visions of transcendence animate the pages of Sacred Space . Drawing on the most popular examples Star Wars , Star Trek , Battlestar Galactica , Babylon 5, and Stargate SG-1 as well as the lesser known but no less important, Cowan reveals the multivalent religious ideas present in this media. Why do these themes that consistently appear in science fiction matter? What do they reveal about the often ambivalent relationship between outer space and our spirits? Cowan insightfully shows how these films and shows express and reinforce culturally constructed conceptions of transcendent hope, and along the way provides a provocative reflection on what this ultimately says about our culture's worldviews, hopes, and fears.

Author Biography

Douglase E. Cowan is professor of Religious Studies, Renison University College, University of Waterloo. His most recent publications include Sacred Terror: Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen and Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Science Fiction and the Quest for Transcendence
The Brightness against the Black	p. 3
Pinocchio's Galaxy: Science Fiction and the Question of Transcendence	p. 35
First Contact: Human Exceptionalism in the Calculus of Transcendence	p. 71
"Intellects Vast and Cool and Unsympathetic": The War of the Worlds and the Transcendence of Modernity	p. 105
Science Fiction and the Modes of Transcendence
Heeding the Prophets' Call: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	p. 141
The von Däniken Paradox: Stargate SG-I	p. 171
All Alone in the Night: Babylon 5	p. 197
So Say We All: Battlestar Galactica	p. 225
The Truth Is Out There: Transcendence and the Neverending Quest	p. 261
Filmography	p. 275
Bibliography	p. 285
Index	p. 309
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