I feel as though reading the first chapters and/or introduction to books, both fiction and non-fiction, seldom fails to create a sense  of then-and-now, but this seemed especially true while reading Frank Kermode and Elizabeth Rosen. Both pieces are post-modernist works in that they are as much a study in how others study the Apocalypse as they are an examination of the end of the world. Both look for patterns within pieces, although Rosen is more apt to cite pieces that are literally from after the modern era.

The idea of the Apocalypse was being subverted before a modern period of time even happened. I recall that one of the writers noted that it had a degree of ridgidity that kept the idea in circulation with a changing world. While strong, this idea was not so firm as to have the public change it to suit personal needs and values. Rosen tries to indicate when works, regardless of creation medium, are more studies of apocalyptical work and which share package other messages with a tale that is already understood, but I feel, due to the heaviness of the text, that these concepts blend together. Even Revealation, the ultimate archtype does something that other Christian text don’t and looks at religion. It might be a means of controling time but it is forever timeless and bold.