2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Gnosticism and the modern European Literature
| Project/Area Number |
15520170
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
ヨーロッパ語系文学
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| Research Institution | Kyoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
TAKAHASHI Yoshito Kyoto University, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, 大学院・人間・環境学研究科, 教授 (70051852)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2004
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| Keywords | Gnosis / forgetfulness / Dualism / man / woman / Dostoevsky / Hermann Hesse / German idealism / William Blake |
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| Research Abstract |
Recently it is often said that not only Christianity but also Gnosticism played important roles in the history of western ideas, and that we can not really understand European thought and literature without understanding its Gnostic influences as well. The purpose of this research lies in rereading modem European philosophy and literature based on Gnostic thought.
Without knowing the whole image of Gnostic thought, we cannot ascertain the relations between Gnosticism and modern European philosophy and literature. The first half of this report therefore outlines Gnosticism. Chapter 1 deals with the Lost Paradise, Chapter 2 with dualism, Chapter 3 with Sophia and "man/woman", Chapter 4 with the saved savior, Chapter 5 with the Apocalypse and the End Time, Chapter 6 with Augustine and Manichaeism, Chapter 7 with Scholasticism and the Cathars, Chapter 8 with the Holy Grail, Chapter 9 with Meister Eckhart, and Chapter 10 with Jacob Boehme.
The second half of this report consists of eleven chapters. Chapter 11 proposes that the Faustian legend dates back to the life of Simon Magus, one of the earliest Gnostic thinkers. Chapter 12 traces the influence of Jacob Boehme on William Blake. Chapter 13 treats the influence of Gnostic thought on German idealism. Chapters 14 and 15 deal with Fichte and Schelling. Chapter 16 discusses Hegel, whose Gnostic thought guided Hegelianism left to Marzism and right to Nazism. Chapter 17 is devoted to Dostoevsky, whose "Crime and Punishment" Berdyaev considers a Gnostic work. Similarly, Chapter 18 shows the covert Gnosticism in Richard Wagner's last opera "Parsifal." Under the influence of a Jungian doctor, Hermann Hesse encountered Gnostic thought and wrote his novel "Damian"(chapter 19). Chapter 20 deals with the relation between Tarkovski and Gnosis, while Chapter 21 shows the Gnosticism of Philip K.Dick.
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