"Living, being in the world, was a much greater and stranger thing than she had ever dreamed."—Ursula K. Le Guin, The Tombs of Atuan
Image credit: Tithi Luadthong Art, Thailand
Introduction
Introducing the 12-part series, A Literary Search for Meaning by Dr Karen Hughes Western society is in the midst of a cultural shift. Despite past arguments that secularisation would erode the social significance of religion and cause the “disenchantment of
The Rise of Modern Spirituality
Part 1 in the series, A Literary Search for Meaning by Dr Karen Hughes The dramatic rise of individualised Western spirituality in recent times contradicts the theory that urbanisation, rationalisation and modern scientific thinking must naturally result in the end
The Quest for Mystical Experiences
Part 2 in the series, A Literary Search for Meaning by Dr Karen Hughes Whether couched in religious or humanist terms, it is the individual journey of the seeker that characterises modern Western spirituality. According to Paul Heelas and Linda
Spiritual Re-Enchantment through Speculative Fiction
Part 3 in the series, A Literary Search for Meaning by Dr Karen Hughes If the proponents of the secularisation theory were wrong in their predictions and Western culture is now experiencing a spiritual resurgence, how might speculative fiction, as an aspect
A New Mythology for our Modern Age
Part 4 in the series, A Literary Search for Meaning by Dr Karen Hughes The growth of the modern seeker movement demonstrates a need for the kind of spiritual, philosophical and psychological connection with the world that, religious historian Mircea
Spirituality and Speculative Fiction in Australia
Part 5 in the series, A Literary Search for Meaning by Dr Karen Hughes While Australia has strong traditions of Celtic-influenced medieval fantasy set in European locales, gritty science fiction with harsh desert and “cruel bush” settings, and literary realism
Speculative Fiction – An Overview
Part 6 in the series, A literary Search for Meaning by Dr Karen Hughes It is interesting to note the parallels between contemporary speculative fiction and modern Western spirituality as emerging cultural fields. Both encompass an eclectic range of ideas
Mythic Themes
Part 7 in the series, A Literary Search for Meaning by Dr Karen Hughes According to Brian Attebery, “Every fantasy proposes a different way of bringing the strange, the magic, the numinous into modern life. Each distortion, each elaboration on
Philosophical Apocalyptic Science Fiction
Part 8 in the series, A Literary Search for Meaning by Dr Karen Hughes Speculative fiction offers a variety of overlapping genres with a wide range of tropes and techniques that the modern writer can draw upon to create new
New Myths
Part 9 in the series, A Literary Search for Meaning by Dr Karen Hughes Joseph Campbell argues that myths offer life models and such models “have to be appropriate to the time in which you are living”; modern life requires