40k and religion... a literary question

[Welcheren]

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.

[Imren]

I don't know of a scholar work, however, read The Last Church by Graham McNeill, its in the black library novel Tales of heresy. It has a very interesting existentialist discussion about religion vs rationality/secularism in general but in the context of the 30k/40k context in particular. I think It's one of the best short novels in the horus heresy series.

[WarriorFish]

I think you might be disappointed, 40k takes a very shallow view of many things - anything not Grimdark™ is ripe for little attention. Even in stories where there is more room you're still left with the subjective depending on the author (the Last Church is an obvious example, both in subject and in being shallow on it).

 

This is compounded by GW not really delving much into the religious aspects of the Imperium (and even less so any other factions), and that it's explicitly mentioned to have dizzying numbers of variation across the galaxy as the Ecclesiarchy intentionally co-opts local beliefs towards worship of the Emperor. From their point of view how the worship is done isn't as important as the fact that it's directed towards the Emperor.

 

Trying to cover such a vast subject with so little source material sounds like a very big and difficult task! Add in the fictional nature of it and I'd wager you'll not find any serious attempt to do so. Could be an opportunity for you to fill the gap if you're interested, but as mentioned you'll have a lot of digging to do...

[Welcheren]

I thank you both.

 

Right now that is precisely my conundrum.

 

1) Obviously 30k-40k lit hits a nerve with me, otherwise I would not read it. But is there any substance to analyse?

2) A potential gap exists, but do I have the... guts for it? Well, we should at least try.

 

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of McNeil's The Last Church. I have not yet read that one.

 

 

SPOILERS (Garro, Dark Imperium)

Garro and Dark Imperium intrigued me. We are all familiar with religious fanaticism in 40k a-la Grimaldus and a score of others. So obviously, religion in 40k is no more than opium for the masses. And yet... Garro's experiences with Keeler are difficult to explain away. It seems as though he truly does experience something spiritual. But does that mean that the Emperor can be experienced as a god? Enter Dark Imperium. When Guilliman meets his father again, all he sees is a creature bent on securing the survival of humanity. The Big E does not meet his son as a son, but as an instrument. When Guilliman's Apostolic Militant askes him, "Does the Emeperor love us?" he lies.

 

Between those occurences (Garro's seemingly real experiences of spiritual purpose) and Guilliman's disappointment, it feels to me as if there is something worth analysing. But clearly this requires more thought and tons of digging.

[WarriorFish]

I think it'd be worth considering splitting between 30k and 40k given the obvious difference in how religion is approached. In some ways 30k might be more fruitful in that the attempted drive against religion may give more insight compared to 40k where it's sort of in the background, almost taken as granted.

 

Perhaps more meat can be added by looking at the more "practical" aspects? In 40k daemons and gods are provably real, that gives a different angle to faith in that, well, it's not really faith any more objectively speaking? :P As you note in your spoilers, we have "word of God" confirmation that spiritual events happen in the universe. It might be worth checking in with the Sisters, as people more vested in the Ecclesiarchy and spiritual matters of the Imperium they might have some pointers for you. At the least, their rules actively reflect the Emperor's powers

[Closet Skeleton]

Black Library novels are aimed at a general audience. With how shallow the real world general discourse around Secularism tends to be I think it would be a waste for the writers to try at any real depth.

 

The gimmick in Horus Rising is that you have an atheist society that is robbed of the ability to represent legitimate truth but the book doesn't use that to actually look at the flaws of enforced state atheism in any way other than vaguely implying that atheism is unable to meet certain human needs.

 

The asexual post-masculinity of the Black Templars basically robs any narrative of the ability to really delve into themes that dominate the discourse on violent religious fanatacism in the real world.

 

 

Obviously, religion is central to 40k - its abuses, its politics, its dogmatism, its primacy as a human need despite what rationality might say.

 

Rationality vs religion is a pretty 21st century concept. From Plato to Kant god was considered a prerequisite for rational knowledge to exist at all and the main atheist philosophers of the early 20th century like Nieztsche and Sartre were mainly concerned with being able to face the world's inherent irrationality. There were always people who argued for evidence over superstition but it was always pretty easy for philosophers to point out that the truth had not in fact set anyone free until academic silo-ing made philosophy essentially irrelevant to society.

[Brother Tyler]

"Religion in 40K" is also not limited to Humanity and the Imperium - the Orks, Aeldari, and T'au all have their own forms of religion. Only the Necrons and Tyranids don't appear to have religion, or if they do, their forms of religion are inscrutable to us from the lore that has been given (despite the Necrons' use of the Star "Gods"). The Genestealer Cults are odd in that, though they are derived from the Tyranids, who don't appear to have a religion, they wrap their insurrections within the cloak of religion.

[Sword Brother Adelard]

Is there much academic literary discussion of 40k in general?

 

I recall from doing a literature essay on my law degree that outside of the mainstream books, some series get very little academic discussion. (I was however very lucky to find one solitary literary article, on a topic I was studying, with a point of view I could disagree with on one of my favourite books by Patrick O'Brian.)

[Welcheren]

Brother Adelard,

 

Unless I have been searching in the wrong archives, there is something of a dearth of academic work on 30k and 40k.

 

That paucity could be taken as evidence that scholars steeped in literary theory (and philosophy) have already tried and found too little to analyse in this universe. Conversely, perhaps too few scholars are interested in 30k-40k and have simply failed to try.

 

 

I am grateful for any suggested readings in SF literature, philosophy, literary theory and religion.

[Marshal Rohr]

I've seen some pseudo-academic musings on 40k by snapple-bottlecap internet philosophers with no degrees and some hit pieces by journalists, but nothing in the context of real academia. Occasionally you see ADB or Gav reference real literary devices and criticisms but they keep that mostly in house. Marshal Loss posted a cool summary of the Black Legion and the practice of spear won land. You get a lot of commentary on 40k by people stepping out of their lane on facebook/twitter. 

[Dagoth Ur]

Sadly, there is barely any, if any academic work in the area of literary studies done on Warhammer 40k (and I have searched several libraries and databases for some of my papers on 40k). This is a great shame as I feel that particularly in the area of Modern Myth-Making and Narratology it'd offer some fantastic chances for study, particularly when analyzed from a Brechtian or Genettian perspective.

 

Edit: The problem with Academic Work on 40k is that, as far as literature goes, it is relatively modern and under the academic radar when it comes to english literary studies and is wholly outside the informal canon of german literary studies. I personally don't think that it is an issue of "there is nothing here to analyze" and more of a "not enough people are aware/interested in it". In that way it is very similar to works such as, say, Brecht's "Threepenny Novella", a fantastic piece of anti capitalist literature that got pushed to the side by the popularity of Brecht's "Threepenny Opera"

[Sword Brother Adelard]

Someone's gotta start somewhere.

[Dagoth Ur]

Someone's gotta start somewhere.

I absolutely agree, and I feel that we are slowly entering times where people interested in writing about 40k are finishing their degrees and can now credibly write ground-level research and papers on it (This was a big problem in my studies. Due to not having a full degree, I was not able to write on something that did not build on prior research).

[Marshal Loss]

Not to my knowledge. I work in a history department & had considered doing something about the influence of classical reception in the 30k/40k setting, but I'm not a reception historian and so this project has been continually delayed over the last few years. If you want to research religion in 40k properly you'll have to delve into authoritarianism and modern political theory, esp. theory concerning theocratic states.

 

I asked a colleague in the religious studies department and they recommended Holy Sci-Fi! by Paul J. Nahin as a starting point. I'm not sure if it deals with 40k directly (I suspect not) but you might be able to begin assembling a literature review from Nahin's bibliography.

[Welcheren]

Actually, that is a huge help Marhsal Loss.

 

My own problems are similar. As mentioned earlier, I have been working in Foucauldian discourse analysis, but have always focused on linguistic projects. As such, I have no solid background in literature. But I completed my Phd nine years ago, and have reached a stage where I am hungry for something new.

 

So Holy Sci-Fi! by Paul J. Nahin seems like a solid place to start.

 

Thanks!

 

As Brother Adelard says, someone has to start somewhere. That someone might very well not be me, but his point stands.

[Marshal Rohr]

Actually, that is a huge help Marhsal Loss.

 

My own problems are similar. As mentioned earlier, I have been working in Foucauldian discourse analysis, but have always focused on linguistic projects. As such, I have no solid background in literature. But I completed my Phd nine years ago, and have reached a stage where I am hungry for something new.

 

So Holy Sci-Fi! by Paul J. Nahin seems like a solid place to start.

 

Thanks!

 

As Brother Adelard says, someone has to start somewhere. That someone might very well not be me, but his point stands.

Just don’t make everyone hate 40k the way Tolkien and Heinlein got pulled apart ;)

[Welcheren]

What? Make people hate the universe that has (ironically) kept me sane?

 

Madness!

[Frater Antodeniel]

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.

 

First, you must have a scientific approach of your study.

 

So, speaking of religion you must figures why religion exist, and then explain its working.

 

Also, note that the most important difference between Real Life and the Warhammer 40K Fictional Universe is the fact that in 40K, "magic" and "miracles" exist. In Warhammer 40K, faith is a real power that can make things real.

 

-------------------------------------

 

So first, about Religion, the two main reason as to why Religion exist are, the belief in life after death and the control of population. And to add that even Atheism can be described as a religion in some form. (In this regard the 30K Era, with the Imperial Truth present a version of Atheism that can be described as a monotheist religion, with for exemple the rejection of other believes, the control over populations and the common belief in a codified code that rule over the society.)

 

-------------------------------------

 

In regard of required litterature, i would advice to first, read the main texts of the major religion (Bible, ancient and new testament, the Quran, and any other religious text of other major religion such as Buddhism) of our current world and analyse how the religion influence human societies. Also, i would recommend Confucius, Seneque (an adept of the Stoicism, which is pretty close to the view of the Imperial Truth of the 30K), Ibn Khaldun and Laozi.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_the_Younger

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Khaldun

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi

 

"To explain, you must understand, but to understand you must first learn from the source material. The error is to believe that we are smarter than those who came before us, without learning from them. The wisest choice is to learn, then understand, and only when it is done, can we criticize." (I thing that it sound good as a philosophical sentence^^.)

[Welcheren]

Excellent recommendations! Thank you, Frater Antodeniel.

 

 

If anyone would care to post links to their musings on the subject, I would be grateful.

 

 

Also, does anyone have an opinion on how Garro features in this debate?

 

I kept reading and re-reading his soul searching and his interactions with Euphrati Keeler - knowing, as we all do, that the series endorses atheism (at least I thougth the writers did). So I was waiting to see some self-deception, some evidence his sense of spiritual purpose is just a self-fulfilling prophecy. But despite the way religion is abused after the Horus Heresy, what Garro experiences cannot be so easily dismissed.

 

Technically, the same goes for Keeler. How does she do what she does? How do any of the saints do what they do? The Emperor is not a god and yet these two characters from 30k resist easy explanation. Unless, as Antodeniel stays, faith simply becomes another form of magic in this universe. In which case, I am not sure how much there is to analyse.

 

Thoughts?

[Welcheren]

One thing is for sure: I am definitely ordering Paul Nahin's Holy Sci-Fi!

[Vermintide]

Would you have more luck searching for studies on the works that influenced 40k perhaps? Stuff like Frank Herbert, Michael Moorcock, Robert Heinlein, etc... Lots of the core themes in 40k are more or less directly transplanted over from those works, it might be a place to start.

[Welcheren]

Great point. But I am thinking that tons of other people have already written about those works.

[Marshal Rohr]

As long as they’re not crossing their specialism all criticism is valid.

[Brother Tyler]

A significant challenge you're going to run into with any literary/academic study of religion in the Warhammer 40,000 setting is that there are lots of different "takes" in that different authors will present different views. In addition, there is the diversity in the various "religions" described in the lore, as well as the evolution of those descriptions over time. It's not like exploring a setting created by a single author, where there is a degree of control and consistency (even where an author deliberately introduces apparent inconsistencies).

 

=][=

Important for our purposes is the restriction on discussion of religion here at the B&C, which presents a significant challenge to your efforts. This restriction is in place because religion is one of those hot button topics, sure to create controversy as different views are presented.

 

I've already removed a post that got too deep into the weeds on issues, inviting unnecessary counterarguments and escalation. Similar posts will be removed without notice.

 

As long as this discussion can focus on suggesting references for the OP to consult, it will be allowed to continue.

 

Points about different religions, whether those points are facts or opinions, aren't necessary and will be removed (the post in its entirety, not just the points being edited out).

 

=][=

[Exilyth]

Having a background in computer science, I know of some technical papers which use a space marine or terminator as a test model for geometry algorithms.

They don't have any other connection to 40k though.

 

 

While Religion in 30k is a bit limited due to the whole "everyone is imperial except for the traitors who stand on the slippery slope of chaos worship", there is quite a lot of religion in 40k:

 

Religion in 40k usually takes one of three broad forms:

1. worship of the emperor (and/or imperial saints)
2. worship of the chaos gods (and/or lesser warp entities)
3. other (e.g. worship of xenos)

While theese three broad strokes tend to roughly paint the picture in most stories, the actual forms of worship are countless like the grains of sand on a beach - sometimes even on the same planet.

 

The imperial faith f.e. is regulated by the ecclesiarchy. While the ecclesiarch at the upper levels of organisation is very similar to the roman-catholic church in many depictions, the vastness of the stars means that most planets deviate in their beliefs and forms of worship from the standards of the ecclesiarchy.

 

What we know about the imperial faith from the lore is:

• there are buildings, often churches, where believers can worship
• worship is performed via prayer to the emperor or saints
• there are also masses, during which priests read sermons and songs are played and/or sung
• individuals or groups can confess to priests in public or private
• there are holidays like e.g. candlemass
• worship of relics is widespread
• donations are welcome and sometimes mandatory (sometimes very generous donations also buy better seats during mass or a private audience with a high ranking member or the chance to take a look at relics which are usually not open to the public)

Many deviations from the 'basic faith' change the form and/or objects of worship, e.g. there are many local variations of faith, especially on feudal or agricultural worlds, which view the emperor as the sun and thank him for bringing light into their life.

• At least one world views space marines as the angels of the Emperor, who sail the ocean-above in their ironclad ships and take away the strongest to some sort of paradise (this, ofc, being the recruitment process of said space marine chapter. Compare to the 'valhalla' mythos).
• Deathcult assasins, tolerated by the imperium only due to their usefullness, worship the emperor as a death aspect - the destroyer which makes room for new creation (note parallels to worship of shiva/kali).
• The four armed emperor is a key figure in the faith of many genestealer cults - they await the comming of the star children (aka tyranids), who will free them from the imperial suppression and take them to the stars. This faith is more of a tool supplementing the cults psychic indoctrination though.
• The adeptus mechanicus (was forced to) worships the emperor as the 'omnissiah', an aspect of technology. Some worship the omnissiah as an entity separate from the emperor, but they tend to do so in private. For the truth, read 'mechanicum' of the horus heresy novel series.

Unlike the imperial faith, which only manifests in the world as saints, omens and minor miracles, the worship of chaos has a tangible reward: The gods of chaos often bestow gifts upon their servants, which makes them much more real to the worshippers - even if said gift turns one into that-which-shall-not-be-named.

 

Chaos worship takes even more varied forms:

• Khorne cults can range from the raving lunatics performing blood rituals to the box club around the corner where the going gets a bit too rough every once in a while. Worshippers are usually dragged in by a promise of power archieved via bloodletting.
• Cults of Slanesh range from traveling circuses, over artists communes producing artworks of a particular nature up to corner night clubs providing special shows for repeat customers. They usually encourage their members to go just one step further.
• Cults of Nurgle tend to fester wherever there is a lack of hygiene. They often encourage people to accept their lot in life and to embrace disease as a gift.
• Cults of Tzeentch can appear as any of the above, but they often tend to hide behind fascades such as the local library, hermetic lodge or some organisation like 'the upstanding citizens club for the denounciation of un-imperial behaviour'. The draw here is knowledge, power and secrets.
• Cults of minor warp entities - they probably exist, but aren't brought up in lore often.

Ofc, there are cults and sects which are not your usual 'people meeting in the woods at night to chant & dance' type of deal, e.g. the bloodpact is a traitor army that is organized just like the imperial guard Astra Militarum - they even have their own version of comissars and priests.

 

Lastly, there are other forms of worship, which is mostly worship of xenos: For every xenos race, there's some cult which worhips them, or worships their gods.

• Elder are known to have human allies within the imperium. And some humans tend to be very obsessed with the eldar race.
• Necron tombs sometimes end up being places of worship while inactive.
• Tau are a bit of an exception: Most of the gue'vesa (human auxilliaries) join them due to better treatment & living conditions
• Genestealer cults were already mentioned above

So, in conclusion, faith in 40k comes in all kinds of shapes.

 

 

 

Sources you might want to read which deal with forms of religion in 40k:

• Ian Watsons Inquisitor triology - being early fluff, it is a bit unrefined, but as it deals with the dealings of the inquisition, it touches a lot on the subjects of imperial faith (e.g. sun cults) and chaos worship
• Dan Abnetts Eisenhorn triology - similarly, but the transformation of the main character from puritan to radical and how it changes their view of the imperial creed is quite interesting (in addition to the usual cults)
• Dan Abnetts 'gaunt ghosts' series has multiple novels which deal with the sabbath worlds crusade, the saint sabbath and her death and resurrection. The series is also very detailed in its depiction of everyday life in the imperium. Also has some interesting forms of chaos worship.