From: Alex David Groce <Alex_Groce@gs246.sp.cs.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) Re: Posthumous
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 13:18:13 

I'm sure Wolfe's come across Borges references to Swedenborg, and perhaps
read some--but really the idea of dead protagonists (from "The Other Dead
Man", PEACE, etc.) is not necessarily thus derived.  It's not an unheard of
theme.  Wolfe's general take on it seems to be in the mode of "Purgatorial
Fantasy"--an alternative to Dante's view of purgatory as a place, bringing
in the tropes of the ghost story instead.  It does match Swedenborg well, but
that's probably not the only possible source.


"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32
--
Alex David Groce (agroce+@cs.cmu.edu)
Ph.D. Student, Carnegie Mellon University - Computer Science Department
8112 Wean Hall (412)-268-3066
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~agroce

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/