Representations of the Moon in Literature and Art

This book brings together a collection of essays on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the first man on the moon – a time when tourist journeys to the moon, now a real possibility, were no more than a fantasy. Divided into four sections, illustrating different perceptions of the moon, the common aim of the essays in this book is to examine how mankind’s interest in the moon has been represented in Literature and the Arts, an objective underpinned by the desire to exploit the relationship between the so-called two cultures—the Humanities and Science—as C.P. Snow perceived them in his pioneering work (1959). The plethora of ways in which our companion satellite has been portrayed has led the authors of the essays to draw upon research from the history of science as well as from literary, cultural and artistic studies. In addition to analysing the impact on literature and music, of our arrival on the moon, whether real or imaginary, these studies also examine how writers along the centuries have appropriated the moon as a metaphor in order to project latent conflict, criticise the society or politics of their day, reflect upon scientific or technological discoveries or fantasise about journeys, encounters or imaginary realities.