Apocalypse Theory and the Ends of the World

Book excerpt: In this volume, leading historians, critics and theorists review three thousand years of apocalyptic thought. Tracing the history of millenarianism from ancient times to the present day, they investigate the modern and postmodern debates in which apocalyptic themes are recirculated. From Zoroaster to Derrida, thinkers have used the dramatic language of apocalyptic to uncover the ends of the world - exploring the relationship between ends as purposes and ends as terminations, and the connections between religious and secular versions of apocalyptic theory. In the resulting interplay of closure and disclosure, they have sought to find purpose to life, and a conclusion to history. As the millennium draws to a close, questions about the end of the world seem increasingly urgent. This volume is a guide to these bewildering questions and discourses of the limit. It will be of interest to anyone participating in contemporary debates in cultural studies, religious studies, literary theory, postmodernist philosophy and history.