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- Title
The Da Vinci Code as Alchemical Rhetoric.
- Authors
Gunn, Joshua; Frentz, Thomas
- Abstract
In this essay we argue that Dan Brown's mystery novel, The Da Vinci Code, functions as an alchemical rhetoric in five basic ways, two of which are most conspicuous. First, the fictional narrative supposedly reveals a subversive “fact” protected for centuries by secret societies: Jesus and Mary Magdalene had children. Insofar as the alchemical genre attempts to communicate a supposed truth in a misleading fiction, Brown's novel can be read as an exemplar of contemporary alchemical rhetoric. Second, the secret life of Jesus and Mary Magdalene turns out to be a ruse, a lure to catch Church apologists and offend others, while a far more blasphemous or radical truth is, in true alchemical fashion, hidden in a plain sight.
- Subjects
DA Vinci Code, The (Book); BROWN, Dan, 1964-; LITERARY form; JESUS Christ; MARY Magdalene, Saint, fl. 1st century; FICTION; CHRISTIAN apologetics; RELIGION
- Publication
Western Journal of Communication, 2008, Vol 72, Issue 3, p213
- ISSN
1057-0314
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1080/10570310802210114