Postmodern Religion in Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle
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Considered by many critics as a pessimist and nihilist, Vonnegut satirizes the potential dangers of science and technology by using irony, black humor, and nihilistic elements. Just like science, religion plays an important role in investigating themes such as purpose, meaning, and destiny that are central in many of Vonnegut’s texts. These themes are probed in Cat’s Cradle in a way that problematizes fundamental tenets of Western civilization against the backdrop of a postmodern religion known as Bokononism. This essay argues that by displaying the fundamental doctrines and rituals of Bokononism Vonnegut offers a postmodern religion that undermines the Western world’s notions of purpose, meaning, and social progress.
Abstract
Considered by many critics as a pessimist and nihilist, Vonnegut satirizes the potential dangers of science and technology by using irony, black humor, and nihilistic elements. Just like science, religion plays an important role in investigating themes such as purpose, meaning, and destiny that are central in many of Vonnegut’s texts. These themes are probed in Cat’s Cradle in a way that problematizes fundamental tenets of Western civilization against the backdrop of a postmodern religion known as Bokononism. This essay argues that by displaying the fundamental doctrines and rituals of Bokononism Vonnegut offers a postmodern religion that undermines the Western world’s notions of purpose, meaning, and social progress.
참고문헌 (20)
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