Klerykal fiction: Difference between revisions

'''Klerykal fiction''' (rarely, '''klerykal fantasy and science fiction''',<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Dukaj |first=Jacek |year=2002 |title=SF po Lemie |url=http://nowadekada.pl/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Dekada-Literacka-2002-nr-1-2-183-184.pdf |journal=Dekada Literacka |language=pl |volume=1–2 |pages=42–49}}</ref> '''anti-klerykal fantasy and science fiction''',{{efn|name=a|fantastyka klerykalna, fantastyka antyklerykalna. Note that Polish term "fantastyka", sometimes translated to English as [[fantastika]], encompasses both fantasy and science fiction, and arguably other speculative fiction genres<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clute |first=John |last2=Langford |first2=David |title=SFE: Fantastika |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/fantastika |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=sf-encyclopedia.com}}</ref>}}<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Krawczyk |first=Stanisław |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rXmUEAAAQBAJ&dq=dukaj+%22z%C5%82ota+galera%22&pg=PA88 |title=Gust i prestiż: o przemianach polskiego świata fantastyki |date=11 October 2022 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar |isbn=978-83-66849-57-0 |location=Warsaw |pages=88–89 |language=pl}}</ref> or translated to English as '''klerykalclerical fiction'''{{efn|name=b|In English, however, clerical fiction can refer to fiction about priests ([[clergy]])<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-01-03 |title=In Praise of Clerical Fiction |url=https://youngclergywomen.org/in-praise-of-clerical-fiction/ |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=Young Clergy Women International |language=en-US}}</ref>}}<ref name=":1" />) is a term for a subgenre of [[Science fiction and fantasy in Poland|Polish fantasy and science fiction]] and broader [[religious fantasyfiction]] that addresses [[Christianity|Christian]] themes. The term was coined in the early 1990s.

Formative works for the emergence of this genre are considered to be [[Jacek Dukaj]]'s short story ''{{Interlanguage link|The Golden Galley|pl|Złota Galera}}'' (1990) and [[Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz|Rafał Ziemkiewicz]]'s ''Jawnogrzesznica'' (''The Public Sinner'', (1991). One of the most prominent representatives of this genre is [[Marek Huberath]].

This genre emerged in Poland<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Zwierzchowski |first=Marcin |date=2 August 2016 |title=Fantastyka vs. polityka |url=https://lubimyczytac.pl/aktualnosci/7409/fantastyka-vs-polityka |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=lubimyczytac.pl |language=pl-PL}}</ref> at the turn of the 1980s<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Orliński |first=Wojciech |date=19 September 2005 |title=Miasta pod skałą, Huberath, Marek S. - Recenzja Wojciecha Orlińskiego |url=https://wyborcza.pl/7,75517,2924191.html |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=wyborcza.pl |language=pl}}</ref> and 1990s<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Budzyńska |first=Natalia |year=2002 |title=Klerykał fiction |url=https://www.przewodnik-katolicki.pl/Archiwum/2002/Przewodnik-Katolicki-50-2002/Kultura/Klerykal-fiction |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=Przewodnik Katolicki |language=pl}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Oramus |first=Marek |year=1995 |title=Piąte piwo: Klerykal, czyli los kleryka |journal=Fenix |language=pl |volume=1 |pages=185–186}}</ref> and is a subgenre of broader religious fantasyfiction<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Mazurkiewicz |first=Adam |title="Powroty do przeszłości". Literatura i kultura lat 80. i jej współczesna recepcja |publisher=Temida 2 |year=2022 |isbn=978-83-67169-12-7 |editor-last=Gardocki |editor-first=Wiktor |pages=83–114 |language=pl |chapter=Nowe (?) odsłony fantastyki zaangażowanej |editor-last2=Piechota |editor-first2=Dariusz |chapter-url=https://repozytorium.uwb.edu.pl/jspui/handle/11320/15075}}</ref> as well as [[social science fiction]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Mazurkiewicz |first=Adam |title=Motywy religijne we współczesnej fantastyce |date=2014 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku |isbn=978-83-7431-435-0 |editor-last=Leś |editor-first=Mariusz M. |location=Białystok |pages=33–50 |language=pl |chapter=Fantastyka religijna jako zjawisko osobne (rekonesans) |editor-last2=Stasiewicz |editor-first2=Piotr |chapter-url=https://repozytorium.uwb.edu.pl/jspui/handle/11320/10945}}</ref> Formative or fundamental works for the emergence of this genre include [[Jacek Dukaj]]'s short story ''{{Interlanguage link|The Golden Galley|pl|Złota Galera}}'' (1990)<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Kozak |first=Ewa |date=28 July 2020 |title=O mesjaszu i sarmatach, czyli Polska przyszłości w opowiadaniu Jacka Dukaja Crux (2003) |url=https://wuwr.pl/lkp/article/view/11883 |journal=Literatura i Kultura Popularna |language=pl |volume=25 |pages=249–259 |doi=10.19195/0867-7441.25.14 |issn=0867-7441|hdl=11331/2971 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> and [[Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz|Rafał Ziemkiewicz]]'s ''Jawnogrzesznica'' (''The Public Sinner'', (1991).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoU8AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Klerykal+fiction%22 |title=Ex libris |date=1994 |publisher=Fundacja Inicjatyw Międzynarodowych. |page=13 |language=pl}}</ref> [[Tomasz Kołodziejczak]], credited with coining the term,<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/151493803 |title=Słownik literatury popularnej |date=2006 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Universytetu Wrocławskiego |isbn=978-83-229-2767-0 |editor-last=Żabski |editor-first=Tadeusz |edition= |location=Wrocław |page=119 |language=pl |oclc=151493803}}</ref> described these works as ''a reaction to the social fears of the end of the decade''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Jawnogrzesznica: antologia opowiadań science fiction 1980-1990 |date=1991 |publisher=Przedświt |isbn=978-83-85081-27-2 |editor-last=Kołodziejczak |editor-first=Tomasz |edition= |series=Fantasy, science fiction, horror |location=Warsaw |pages=5–8 |language=pl |chapter=Wstęp}}</ref> Western novels critical of traditional religious models, such as [[Walter M. Miller Jr.|Walter M. Miller]]'s ''[[A Canticle for Leibowitz]]'' (1959) and [[Michael Moorcock]]'s ''[[Behold the Man (novel)|Behold the Man]]'' (1969), may have played a role in shaping the genre.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Budzyńska |first=Natalia |year=1999 |title=Klerykal fiction |url=http://frondalux.pl/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Fronda17-18.pdf |journal=Fronda |language=pl |volume=17/18 |pages=276–292}}</ref>

Klerykal fiction texts are often described as [[Criticism of religion|critical of religion]].<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> In 1994, {{Interlanguage link|Tadeusz Olszański|pl|Tadeusz A. Olszański}} proposed dividing religious fantasyfiction into devout, [[Theism|theistic]], and klerykal fiction, with the latter characterized by an "anti-church" approach (though not necessarily without a theistic perspective).<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Olszański |first=Tadeusz |year=1994 |title=Mesjasz i Szatan w najnowszej fantastyce polskiej |journal=Nowa Fantastyka |language=pl |volume=4 |pages=65–68}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Mazurkiewicz |first=Adam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EcEpAQAAIAAJ&q=Do%C5%9Bwiadczenie+religijne+w+literaturze+XX+wieku |title=Doświadczenie religijne w literaturze XX wieku |date=2006 |publisher=Uniwersytet Opolski, Instytut Filologii Polskiej |isbn=978-83-86881-45-1 |editor-last=Gleń |editor-first=Adrian |location=Opole |page=131 |language=pl |chapter=Bóg, nauka i człowiek: o możliwościach religijnej interpretacji wybranych powieści fantastycznonaukowych Stanisława Lema |editor-last2=Jokiel |editor-first2=Irena}}</ref> In 1995, Marek Oramus criticized this subgenre, which he defined as ''describing the dangers of yielding to the church, lamenting under church rule, the torment of going to confession, and the adverse effects of priestly interventions on individual freedom and private life''. He considered it ''the most primitive first-level fantasy and science fiction, falsified and rendered non-existent by reality''.<ref name=":5" /> In 2002, [[Jacek Dukaj]] characterized klerykal fiction as the weakest and most ephemeral trend in Polish fantasy and science fiction, describing the term "fantastyka klerykalna" ("klerykal fantasy and science fiction") as pejorative and attributing it to a narrow class of works that were literary echoes of the anti-church sentiments and movements of the early 1990s.<ref name=":0" /> Olszański considered church criticism to be classic for Anglo-Saxon literature with [[Protestantism|Protestant]] ([[Anti-Catholicism|anti-Catholic]]) traditions.<ref name=":11" />

However, Natalia Budzyńska (1999, 2002, 2009) defines klerykal fiction as Polish fantasy and science fiction literature addressing Christian themes and includes texts that are positively disposed towards religion, ''siding with Christianity, showing authentic faith, or permeated with evangelical content, including [[Anti-abortion movements|pro-life]] themes''.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":10" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Budzyńska |first=Natalia |title=SF wierzy w Boga |url=https://www.przewodnik-katolicki.pl/Archiwum/2009/Przewodnik-Katolicki-23-2009/Kultura/SF-wierzy-w-Boga |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=Przewodnik Katolicki |language=pl}}</ref> Mazurkiewicz sees such works (analyzing Polish religiosity in the context of fantasy and science fiction, where ''the ideological stance of their authors is not polemically charged'') on the fringes of this trend.<ref name=":7" /> {{Interlanguage link|Tadeusz Żabski|pl|Tadeusz Żabski}} simply defined klerykal fiction as Polish fantasy and science fiction literature ''addressing faith issues''.<ref name=":9" /> Similarly, Ewa Kozak cites Marcin Zwierzchowski's definition of the subgenre as ''stories referring to matters of faith or the church''.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":8" />

The genre is sometimes called historical;<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":7" /> its period of popularity is attributed to the first half of the 1990s. This period was characterized by, among other things, a decline in public trust in the church, combined with the church's entry into politics, which led to the emergence of anti-church movements.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Krawczyk |first=Stanisław |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lr1zEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22clerical+fiction%22+polish&pg=PT215 |title=Understanding Recognition: Conceptual and Empirical Studies |date=8 August 2022 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-62689-6 |editor-last=Kulas |editor-first=Piotr |pages=215–216 |language= |chapter=Popular Authors in Search of Recognition: On the Polish Field of Science Fiction in the 1980s and 1990s |editor-last2=Waśkiewicz |editor-first2=Andrzej |editor-mask2=Krawczyk |editor-last3=Stanisław}}</ref> In 1992, Wojciech Sedeńko, in the introduction to the religious fantasy and science fiction anthology ''Czarna msza'' (''{{Interlanguage link|Black Mass (anthology)|lt=Black Mass|pl|Czarna msza (antologia)}}''), wrote that ''the fear of clericalization of the state is quite common (certainly influenced by the church's recent spectacular successes, such as the return of religion to schools, the recovery of vast property in real estate, becoming an opinion-forming factor in many areas of life)''.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01w4AAAACAAJ&q=czarna+msza |title=Czarna msza: antologia opowiadań science fiction |date=1992 |publisher=Dom Wydawniczy Rebis |isbn=978-83-85202-66-0 |editor-last=Sedeńko |editor-first=Wojtek |edition= |location=Poznań |page=9 |language=pl |chapter=Wstęp}}</ref> After the so-called post-communist environments came to power in Poland in the mid-1990s (the [[Democratic Left Alliance (Poland)|Democratic Left Alliance]]'s victory in the [[1993 Polish parliamentary election|1993 elections]]), there was a certain restoration of trust in this institution and a simultaneous decline in the popularity of literature critical of the Church, including klerykal fiction.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":13" />

The classification of specific works into this subgenre is sometimes subjective.<ref name=":7" /> Among the pioneering works in this genre – Polish science fiction addressing metaphysical and religious themes – one can include, for instance, the novel ''[[His Master's Voice (novel)|His Master's Voice]]'' by [[Stanisław Lem]] from 1968, the short story ''Relacja z pierwszej ręki'' (''First-Hand Report'', 1982) by [[Janusz Zajdel]] from 1982, the short story ''Karlgoro, godzina 18.00'' (''Karlgoro, 6 PM'', 1983) by [[Marek Baraniecki]] from 1983, the novel ''Adam, jeden z nas'' (''Adam, One of Us'', 1986) by [[Konrad Fiałkowski]] from 1986, and the short story ''Jeruzalem'' (''Jerusalem'', 1988) by {{Interlanguage link|Janusz Cyran|lt=|pl|Janusz Cyran}} from 1988.<ref name=":10" />

Works classified as clericalklerykal fiction, in chronological order, include:

* [[Marcin Wolski]], ''Agent Dołu'' (''Agent from Below'', (novel, 1988)<ref name=":3" />

* {{Interlanguage link|Janusz Cyran|lt=|pl|Janusz Cyran}}, ''JerusalemJeruzalem'' (''Jerusalem'', short story, 1988)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Parowski |first=Maciej |title=Wasz cyrk, moje małpy. Tom I. Chronologiczny alfabet moich autorów |publisher=SQN |year=2019 |location=Kraków |page=270 |language=pl}}</ref>

* [[Jacek Dukaj]], ''{{Interlanguage link|The Golden Galley|pl|Złota Galera}}'' (short story, 1990).<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":11" /> Other stories by Dukaj also classified in this genre include ''Książę mroku musi umrzeć'' ''(The Prince of Darkness Must Die'') and ''Opętani'' (''Possessed'') from 1991, and many in the collection ''W kraju niewiernych'' (''{{Interlanguage link|In the Land of the Faithless|pl|W kraju niewiernych}}'' from, 2000), (e.g., ''In Partibus Infidelium'' from 2000 and ''Ziemia Chrystusa'' (''Christ's Earth'' from, 1997).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11" />

* [[Marek Huberath]], ''Kara większa'' (''{{Interlanguage link|The Greater Punishment|pl|Kara większa}}'', (short story, 1991)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":10" />

* [[Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz|Rafał Ziemkiewicz]], ''Jawnogrzesznica'' (''The Public Sinner'', (short story, 1991).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":11" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dunin-Wąsowicz |first1=Paweł |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mKlhAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Klerykal+fiction%22 |title=Parnas bis: słownik literatury polskiej urodzonej po 1960 roku |last2=Varga |first2=Krzysztof |date=1998 |publisher=Lampa i Iskra Boża |isbn=978-83-86735-29-7 |edition= |location=Warsaw |page=95 |language=pl}}</ref> According to Budzyńska: ''Contrary to appearances, this is not an [[Anti-clericalism|anti-clerical]] story but a deeply evangelical one''.<ref name=":10" />

* Rafał Ziemkiewicz, ''Szosa na Zaleszczyki'' (''The Road to Zaleszczyki'', (short story, 1991)<ref name=":10" />

* Tomasz Kołodziejczak, ''Wstań i idź'' (''Rise and Walk'', (short story, 1992)<ref name=":10" />

* Stories included in the anthology ''Czarna msza'' (''{{Interlanguage link|Black Mass (anthology)|lt=Black Mass|pl|Czarna msza (antologia)}}'') edited by {{Interlanguage link|Wojtek Sedeńko|lt=|pl|Wojtek Sedeńko}} (1992).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> Sedeńko noted in the anthology's introduction: ''I chose [the stories] I considered the best, avoiding the pro or anti criteria like the plague'':<ref name=":14" />

** {{Interlanguage link|Grzegorz Drukarczyk|lt=|pl|Grzegorz Drukarczyk}}, ''Raj utracony'' (''Paradise Lost'')

** [[Jacek Inglot]], ''Umieraj z nami'' (''Die with Us'')

** {{Interlanguage link|Jacek Sobota|lt=|pl|Jacek Sobota}}, ''Rzeka'' (''The River'')

** {{Interlanguage link|Andrzej Drzewiński|lt=|pl|Andrzej Drzewiński}}, ''Dopust Boży'' (''God's Act'')

** Rafał Ziemkiewicz, ''Źródło bez wody'' (''The Waterless Spring'')

** [[Eugeniusz Dębski]], ...''więc chyba to był On''... (''...so it probably was Him...'')

** Jacek Dukaj, ''Korporacja Mesjasz'' (''Messiah Corporation'')

** {{Interlanguage link|Mirosław P. Jabłoński|lt=|pl|Mirosław P. Jabłoński}}, ''Spotkanie na końcu drogi'' (''Meeting at the End of the Road'')

** [[Jarosław Grzędowicz]], ''Dom Na Krawędzi Światła'' (''House on the Edge of Light'')

** [[Jacek Piekara]], ''Dom Na Krawędzi Ciemności'' (''House on the Edge of Darkness'')

* Grzegorz Drukarczyk, ''Zabijcie Odkupiciela'' (''Kill the Redeemer'', (novel, 1992)<ref name=":7" />

* {{Interlanguage link|Olgierd Dudek|lt=|pl|Olgierd Dudek}}, ''Czas siejby'' (''Time of Sowing'', (short story, 1992)<ref name=":1" />

* [[Andrzej Sapkowski]], ''W leju po bombie'' (''{{Interlanguage link|In the Crater Left by a Bomb|lt=|pl|W leju po bombie}}'', (short story, 1993)<ref name=":5" />

* [[Marek Oramus]], ''Święto śmiechu'' (''The Feast of Laughter'', (novel, 1995)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":7" />

* {{Interlanguage link|Mirosław P. Jabłoński|lt=|pl|Mirosław P. Jabłoński}}, ''Elektryczne banany, czyli ostatni kontrakt Judasza'' (''Electric Bananas, or Judas' Last Contract'', (novel, 1996)<ref name=":7" />

* Rafał Ziemkiewicz, ''Tańczący mnich'' (''The Dancing Monk'', (short story, 1996)<ref name=":10" />

* Marek Huberath, ''Druga podobizna w alabastrze'' (''{{Interlanguage link|The Second Likeness in Alabaster|lt=|pl|Druga podobizna w alabastrze}}'', (novelette, 1997)<ref name=":10" />

* {{Interlanguage link|Wojciech Szyda|lt=|pl|Wojciech Szyda}}, Psychonautka (''Psychonaut'', (short story, 1997)<ref name=":10" />

* ''Cykl Inkwizytorski'' (''{{Interlanguage link|The Inquisitorial Cycle|lt=|pl|Cykl Inkwizytorski}}'') by Jacek Piekara, created since 2003<ref name=":7" />

* Marek Huberath, ''Miasta pod skałą'' (''{{Interlanguage link|Cities Under the Rock|lt=|pl|Miasta pod skałą}}'', (novel, 2005)<ref name=":7" />

* Jacek Sobota, ''Głos Boga'' (''The Voice of God'', (novel, 2006)<ref name=":7" />

* Jacek Piekara, ''Przenajświętsza Rzeczpospolita'' (''The Most Holy Republic'', (novel, 2008)<ref name=":7" />

* Marek Oramus, ''Kankan na wulkanie'' (''Cancan on a Volcano'', (novel, 2009)<ref name=":7" />

* Jacek Dukaj, ''Linia Oporu'' (''Resistance Line'', (short story, 2010)<ref name=":7" />

Dukaj also classified unspecified short stories by {{Interlanguage link|Maciej Żerdziński|lt=|pl|Maciej Żerdziński}} as clericalklerykal fiction.<ref name=":0" />