(urth) Silk for calde blog: Wolfe thesis

[Adam Thornton]

On Sep 22, 2009, at 3:32 AM, Zachary Kendal wrote:

> "I should have been clearer in my original post, but these crude  
> 'stereotypes' are what I *currently* have the impression are  
> dominant. I gather, from the limited research I have already done,  
> that most SF with priests as protagonists (not peripheral or minor  
> characters) either use the priest to challenge (or shake or debunk)  
> the priest's faith, or to have it reaffirmed. These two categories  
> are, of course, generalisations.
>
> "I *plan* to argue that Wolfe finds a middle ground between these  
> two *dominant* approaches to the priest. That he manages to do both  
> debunk *and* affirm aspects of Catholicism (ritual vs. spiritual?).  
> I do not plan to argue that no other author has ever done the same  
> and challenged these two approaches.

To apply a slightly different crude overgeneralization: if you're  
making a priest a major figure, then there's presumably a *reason* for  
that choice, and that reason has something to do with his being a  
priest, rather than, say, a fat guy, or a redhead.

At which point, you're probably committed to doing *something* with  
his faith.  Shaking (perhaps to death) and reaffirming are the two  
obvious things to do.

I suppose this wouldn't be true in a book where *everyone* (or at  
least, many of the major characters) are clergy and therefore the  
difference is in particulars of theology rather than being-a-priest-or- 
not.  For examples of this, _Name of the Rose_, _Endymion_, and  
_Anathem_ all come to mind.

Something I'd *really* like to see someone play with is: why is such a  
large proportion of religion-oriented SF Catholic?  If it reflects the  
background of the authors, then why are Catholics overrepresented in  
SF authorship (and, concomitantly, why are there relatively few Jewish  
SF stories) ?  I mean, just off the top of my head:

_A Canticle for Leibowitz_, _A Case of Conscience_ (which really is  
dire), _Hyperion/Endymion_, "The Star", much of Wolfe's work.   
Where's, for example, the Lutheran SF?  (If I were being snarky I'd  
ask and answer where the Baptist SF was.)  Or even specifically  
*Protestant* Christian SF?

Adam