Seventeenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

In this work, I examine how Ortí y Muñoz resorts to the literary genre of science fiction to defend the Catholic faith within the sociopolitical context of secularization imposed by the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939). The novel emphasizes that faith and religion are the only solution for humanity, claiming that humans need these for emotional support and hope for salvation during the eschatological events narrated in the Biblical Apocalypse. Considering that faith is an essentially affective issue and the central claim of this novel, I analyze the role of religion in times of crisis from the perspective of the theory of emotions. Thus, I examine how, according to the novel, fear of death and anxiety for an eternal life are the only catalysts for conversion to Catholicism during the triumph of laicism and political secularization in “modern” states. Likewise, Ortí y Muñoz embraces and successfully employs all the scientific elements and topics of the genre, such as technological progress and the notion of mechanism. The novel uses the most authorized discourse of the time, science, to prove the dangers of scientific development and portray the consequences of the lack of religiosity in a future Spanish society. The novel intends to raise awareness about the affective consequences of the implementation of secularization such as the loss of human emotions and the lack of a sense of community.