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Greetings brothers and sisters, I return from a lengthy sojourn in uncharted stars with a question. Does anyone know of any scholarly work (especially from literary perspectives) on how 40k engages with and depicts religion? I am trained as a linguist and sociologist, without any substantial background in studies of literature. Therefore, my reading of the Horus Heresy series, Space Marine Battles and other Black Library novels has always been done purely for fun and personal reflection, rather than professional work. Recently, however, I have been thinking about dipping my toe in the realm of literary studies (since I already work in a Department of English). However, none of my professional contacts share my interest in our grimdark universe. Obviously, religion is central to 40k - its abuses, its politics, its dogmatism, its primacy as a human need despite what rationality might say. So... Does anyone know of any literary research on 40k and religion? My own searches through the academic archives to which I have access has not yielded much.
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One of the best things about 1d4chan's writeups of various 40k characters, factions, and concepts, are the quotes that're used as headers in many articles. These aren't just 40k-sourced ones, but come from quite a bewildering array of modern and classic literature, songs, pop-cultural manifestations, real-world religious scripture, other games, etc. Not all pages have them, and not all are equally good. But in many cases, they really help to capture and portray the *essence* of a thing. And provide amply abundant inspiration for both modelling projects, and fluff exercises. But I'm not here simply to compliment whichever anonymous fa/tg/uys were responsible for either concept or quote selection. Rather ... the only issue I have with the way they do things, is that there's *only* two or three quotes per page. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd fire up a thread to encourage people to chuck in their own examples of quotes from pretty much any source, that might be useful in attempting to sum up something or someone from 40k. Here's a few examples from 1d4chan itself: > On the page for plasma weaponry: "Never was anything great achieved without danger." - Niccolo Machiavelli > From the Ferrus Manus entry : "Steel isn't strong, boy. Flesh is stronger. What is steel compared to the hand that wields it?" - Thulsa Doom to Conan, Conan the Barbarian. > From the Leman Russ page, and a personal favourite: "I am the punishment of God...If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you." - Genghis Khan. > From the Iron Warriors page: "Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." - Mark Twain > From the Word Bearers page: "By its very nature, theology tends - and under certain conditions, must always tend - to become demonology." - from Faust [appropriately enough] > Alpharius: "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." - Kurt Vonnegut > the Alpha Legion : "If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself." - George Orwell > Dark Angels: "The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn't one." - Margaret Atwood > From the Lorgar page: "From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step." – Denis Diderot > Lorgar again: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;" / "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored." / "He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword" / "His truth is marching on" - The Battle Hymn of the Republic > Lorgar, for a third time: "Dost thou (kimi) seest not this man of Enlightenment (Satori)" / "Who hath ceased studying and liveth now effortlessly?" / "Neither doth he seeks to defeat dellusion nor to find truth any longer." – The Song of Sudden Enlightenment, by Grand Master Yoka, disciple of Hui Neng, 6th Patriarch of Zen > on The Imperial Truth: "If once we can produce our perfect work — the Materialist Magician, the man, not using, but veritably worshipping, what he vaguely calls “Forces” while denying the existence of “spirits” — then the end of the war will be in sight."– Screwtape, "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S Lewis Getting the picture? If you've got some cool thoughts about quotes, from pretty much any source, post 'em here along with what you're thinking they're affixable to within the 40k/30k context. Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with 1d4chan, except as an occasional reader. I just like what they've done with the concept, and think that it can be broadened out.
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