Download or read book Credulity written by Emily Ogden and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2018-03-30 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the 1830s to the Civil War, Americans could be found putting each other into trances for fun and profit in parlors, on stage, and in medical consulting rooms. They were performing mesmerism. Surprisingly central to literature and culture of the period, mesmerism embraced a variety of phenomena, including mind control, spirit travel, and clairvoyance. Although it had been debunked by Benjamin Franklin in late eighteenth-century France, the practice nonetheless enjoyed a decades-long resurgence in the United States. Emily Ogden here offers the first comprehensive account of those boom years. Credulity tells the fascinating story of mesmerism’s spread from the plantations of the French Antilles to the textile factory cities of 1830s New England. As it proliferated along the Eastern seaboard, this occult movement attracted attention from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s circle and ignited the nineteenth-century equivalent of flame wars in the major newspapers. But mesmerism was not simply the last gasp of magic in modern times. Far from being magicians themselves, mesmerists claimed to provide the first rational means of manipulating the credulous human tendencies that had underwritten past superstitions. Now, rather than propping up the powers of oracles and false gods, these tendencies served modern ends such as labor supervision, education, and mediated communication. Neither an atavistic throwback nor a radical alternative, mesmerism was part and parcel of the modern. Credulity offers us a new way of understanding the place of enchantment in secularizing America.
Download or read book Facts in Mesmerism with reasons for a dispassionate inquiry into it written by Chauncy Hare Townshend and published by . This book was released on 1840 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mesmerism Medusa and the Muse written by Anne DeLong and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2012-04-26 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mesmerism, Medusa, and the Muse: The Romantic Discourse of Spontaneous Creativity explores the connections among the Romantic discourse of spontaneous literary creativity, the nineteenth-century cultural practice of mesmerism, and the mythical Medusa as an icon of the gendered gaze. An analysis of Medusan mesmerism in the poetry of Mary Robinson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L.E.L.) and the prose of Mary Shelley reveals that these Romantic-era writers equate the enraptured state that produces spontaneous literary creation with the mesmeric trance. These writers employ Medusan imagery to portray both the mesmerist and the mesmerized subject, a conflation of subject/object positions that complicates issues of agency, subjectivity, and gender. Images of Medusan mesmerism ultimately work to deconstruct Romantic ideological dichotomies of self/other, female/male, muse/artist, and sublime/beautiful. In contrast to a traditional, masculinized Romantic discourse that emphasizes self-possession, this study uncovers a feminized, improvisational, Romantic discourse, characterized “Other-possession,” an assumption of the mesmerized subject position that enhances subjective fluidity. This study interrogates the Romantic discourse of spontaneous literary creativity through an examination of Romantic poetry, prose, and theory that utilizes mesmeric and Medusan metaphors to suggest creative inspiration.Building on recent scholarship about improvisational poetics, the subversive potential of mesmerism, and Medusa as a feminist icon, this work suggests that the mesmeric Medusan muse not only enables creativity for women writers but also provides a mirror in which they view (and through which they give voice to) their own societal oppression. The mesmeric Medusan muse in Romantic-era literature—from the Ancient Mariner and the Frankenstein monster to the tragic, abandoned Sapphic poetess—often represents the face of oppression, an unwelcome and monstrous truth in nineteenth-century British society. For women writers in particular, braving the stare of the Medusan muse enhances empathy, and therefore inspiration and literary productivity.
Download or read book Mesmerized written by Alison Winter and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1998-12 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: An Invitation to the Seance1: Discovery of the Island of Mesmeria 2: Animal Magnetism Comes to London 3: Experimental Subjects as Scientific Instruments 4: Carnival, Chapel, and Pantomime 5: The Peripatetic Power of the "New Science" 6: Consultations, Conversaziones, and Institutions 7: The Invention of Anesthesia and the Redefinition of Pain 8: Colonizing Sensations in Victorian India9: Emanations from the Sickroom 10: The Mesmeric Cure of Souls 11: Expertise, Common Sense, and the Territories of Science 12: The Social Body and the Invention of Consensus Conclusion: The Day after the Feast Notes Bibliography Index Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
Download or read book The Power of Mesmerism written by Anonymous and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2022-06-02 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Power of Mesmerism is erotic fiction. It tells about a young man who learned the power of mesmerism (natural magnetism to influence living beings) and decided to use this skill to fulfill erotic desires. As he gets successful with that, he starts to help other people (mostly his relatives) satisfy their lust as well. The story describes a wide range of sexual activities, including homosexual relations, flagellation, etc., and is closely reminiscent of the memoirs of Marquis De Sade.
Download or read book Poe Fuller and the Mesmeric Arts written by Bruce Mills and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Examines how the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and Margaret Fuller draw from representations of and theories concerning animal magnetism, somnambulism, or hypnosis rendered in newspapers, literary and medical journals, pamphlets, and books, and also includes discussion of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Lydia Maria Child, and Walt Whitman"--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book Crossings written by Alex Landragin and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2020-07-28 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A sparkling debut. Landragin’s seductive literary romp shines as a celebration of the act of storytelling." —Publishers Weekly "Romance, mystery, history, and magical invention dance across centuries in an impressive debut novel." —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) "Deft writing seduces the reader in a complex tale of pursuit, denial, and retribution moving from past to future. Highly recommended." —Library Journal (Starred Review) Alex Landragin's Crossings is an unforgettable and explosive genre-bending debut—a novel in three parts, designed to be read in two different directions, spanning a hundred and fifty years and seven lifetimes. On the brink of the Nazi occupation of Paris, a German-Jewish bookbinder stumbles across a manuscript called Crossings. It has three narratives, each as unlikely as the next. And the narratives can be read one of two ways: either straight through or according to an alternate chapter sequence. The first story in Crossings is a never-before-seen ghost story by the poet Charles Baudelaire, penned for an illiterate girl. Next is a noir romance about an exiled man, modeled on Walter Benjamin, whose recurring nightmares are cured when he falls in love with a storyteller who draws him into a dangerous intrigue of rare manuscripts, police corruption, and literary societies. Finally, there are the fantastical memoirs of a woman-turned-monarch whose singular life has spanned seven generations. With each new chapter, the stunning connections between these seemingly disparate people grow clearer and more extraordinary. Crossings is an unforgettable adventure full of love, longing and empathy.
Download or read book That devil s trick written by William Hughes and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-01 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: That devil’s trick is the first study of nineteenth-century hypnotism based primarily on the popular – rather than medical – appreciation of the subject. Drawing on the reports of mesmerists, hypnotists, quack doctors and serious physicians printed in popular newspapers from the early years of the nineteenth century to the Victorian fin de siècle, the book provides an insight into how continental mesmerism was first understood in Britain, how a number of distinctively British varieties of mesmerism developed, and how these were continually debated in medical, moral and legal terms. Highly relevant to the study of the many authors – Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Bram Stoker and Conan Doyle among them – whose fiction was informed by the imagery of mesmerism, That devil’s trick will be an essential resource for anybody with an interest in the popular and literary culture of the nineteenth century, including literary scholars, medical historians and the general reader.
Download or read book Machinations and Mesmerism Tales Inspired by E T A Hoffmann written by Farah Rose Smith and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2019-07-15 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MACHINATIONS AND MESMERISM: A TRIBUTE TO E.T.A. HOFFMANN Edited by Farah Rose Smith, ?Machinations and Mesmerism? is an anthology of fantastic, strange fiction written in the vein of Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, the oft?-unsung artistic polymath and writer of Dark Romanticism, Gothic Horror, and Fantastic literature. E. T. A. Hoffmann was a Prussian lawyer, artist, composer, and writer. His stories are ripe with strange atmospheres and peculiar characters (including automata, madmen, and spectres), which would go on to influence the Gothic and macabre writers of the following generations including Poe, Gogol, Kafka, and Baudelaire. This carefully curated anthology honors the literary dance between mesmerism, mechanics, and magic through which Hoffmann explored issues of Romantic idealism and the self.
Download or read book Victorian Literary Mesmerism written by Martin Willis and published by Rodopi. This book was released on 2006 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Victorian Literary Mesmerism offers eleven interdisciplinary essays on the intersections between mesmerism and nineteenth-century literature. Its scope is complex and ambitious: ranging from considerations of the impact of literature on quasi-scientific writings of the early 1800s, to a study of Arthur Conan Doyle's use of ‘magnetic' ideas at the fin de siècle . The collection boldly leaps across generic, disciplinary, and cultural boundaries; essays on George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell sit snugly besides studies of Edgar Allan Poe and Wilkie Collins. Medicine, the law, spiritualism, physics, and literature are all discussed in light of their respective impact on Australian, British, and American history.
Download or read book Complete Hypnotism Mesmerism Mind Reading And Spiritualism written by A. Alpheus and published by Prabhat Prakashan. This book was released on 2024-10-15 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlock the mysteries of the mind with "Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism, Mind-Reading And Spiritualism" by A. Alpheus. This compelling exploration delves into the fascinating realms of hypnotism, revealing the profound connections between the conscious and subconscious, and the potential for mind control and healing. Have you ever wondered how thoughts can influence actions or how one mind can connect with another? Discover the powerful techniques that bridge these unseen gaps! This comprehensive guide covers everything from the historical roots of mesmerism to practical applications of hypnotism in everyday life. Alpheus provides insights into the techniques of mind-reading and the principles of spiritualism, offering readers a unique perspective on the power of the mind. Are you ready to explore the hidden potentials of your own consciousness? With practical exercises and detailed explanations, this book invites you to experiment with hypnotic techniques and understand the psychological mechanisms at play. Whether you’re a curious novice or a seasoned practitioner, you’ll find valuable information that challenges your understanding of the mind. This is your opportunity to delve into the depths of mental phenomena. Will you dare to unlock the secrets of hypnotism? Step into a world where the mind reigns supreme. Purchase "Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism, Mind-Reading And Spiritualism" today and start your journey into the extraordinary capabilities of your own consciousness!
Download or read book The Victorian Supernatural written by Nicola Bown and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2004-02-05 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description
Download or read book Letters on Mesmerism written by Harriet Martineau and published by . This book was released on 1845 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mesmerism written by Franz Anton Mesmer and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mesmer s Disciple written by Edward Swanson and published by Alvord Rawn Series. This book was released on 2023-09-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As dark forces gather, a small band of men take a stand against evil in this thrilling period adventure.
Download or read book Mesmerists Monsters and Machines written by Martin Willis and published by Kent State University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using key canonical science fiction narratives, 'Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines' examines the intersection of the literary and scientific cultures of the 19th century.
Download or read book The Rationale of Mesmerism written by Alfred Percy Sinnett and published by Smyth Press. This book was released on 2009-11 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
