That Hideous Strength's Omnicompetent State

That Hideous Strength is clearly connected to C. S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man, where he writes of the conditioners who seek to create a new society via the rejection of universal moral law and the rise of an educational and scientific elite. For Lewis, That Hideous Strength was a way to communic...

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Main Author: K. Alan Snyder
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Press 2022-06-01
Series:Linguaculture
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal.linguaculture.ro/index.php/home/article/view/222
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author K. Alan Snyder
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description That Hideous Strength is clearly connected to C. S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man, where he writes of the conditioners who seek to create a new society via the rejection of universal moral law and the rise of an educational and scientific elite. For Lewis, That Hideous Strength was a way to communicate the concerns expressed in The Abolition of Man in a story format that would appeal to those who might not read a treatise on the subject. This paper examines his concerns about a totalitarian threat as expressed in The Abolition of Man and That Hideous Strength, and then shows how those concerns appeared in his post-war correspondence. Were his fears and concerns valid? How, in particular, did he communicate his concerns to his many correspondents? How predictive did he consider That Hideous Strength to be as he experienced the reality of post-WWII Britain?
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spelling doaj.art-28f5dd8d809d499991aa24a7803eb9df2022-12-22T01:41:43ZengAlexandru Ioan Cuza University PressLinguaculture2067-96962285-94032022-06-0113110.47743/lincu-2022-1-0222That Hideous Strength's Omnicompetent StateK. Alan Snyder0Southeastern University, Florida, U.S.A. That Hideous Strength is clearly connected to C. S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man, where he writes of the conditioners who seek to create a new society via the rejection of universal moral law and the rise of an educational and scientific elite. For Lewis, That Hideous Strength was a way to communicate the concerns expressed in The Abolition of Man in a story format that would appeal to those who might not read a treatise on the subject. This paper examines his concerns about a totalitarian threat as expressed in The Abolition of Man and That Hideous Strength, and then shows how those concerns appeared in his post-war correspondence. Were his fears and concerns valid? How, in particular, did he communicate his concerns to his many correspondents? How predictive did he consider That Hideous Strength to be as he experienced the reality of post-WWII Britain? https://journal.linguaculture.ro/index.php/home/article/view/222Lewiselitescientifictotalitarianconditioning
spellingShingle K. Alan Snyder
That Hideous Strength's Omnicompetent State
Linguaculture
Lewis
elite
scientific
totalitarian
conditioning
title That Hideous Strength's Omnicompetent State
title_full That Hideous Strength's Omnicompetent State
title_fullStr That Hideous Strength's Omnicompetent State
title_full_unstemmed That Hideous Strength's Omnicompetent State
title_short That Hideous Strength's Omnicompetent State
title_sort that hideous strength s omnicompetent state
topic Lewis
elite
scientific
totalitarian
conditioning
url https://journal.linguaculture.ro/index.php/home/article/view/222
work_keys_str_mv AT kalansnyder thathideousstrengthsomnicompetentstate