Bewitched and Bedeviled: A Cognitive Approach to Embodiment in Early English Possession

by K. Uszkalo

Overview

Narratives of possession have survived in early English medical and philosophical treatises. Using ideas derived from cognitive science, this study moves through the stages of possession and exorcism to describe how the social, religious, and medical were internalized to create the varied manifestations of demon possession in early modern England.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137512246
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	07/01/2015
Series:	Cognitive Studies in Literature and Performance
Edition description:	2015
Pages:	263
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

Kirsten C. Uszkalo is the Editor of 'Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies in the Preternatural.' She received her PhD from the University of Alberta.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Grounding Rage Possession 1. Early Diagnostics 2. Contemporary Theories 3. Embodied Spirituality | Embodied Cognition 4. Performance | Contamination 5. Reconciliation | Dispossession | Exorcism Conclusion: Reproducing and Representing Demoniacs

Editorial Reviews

"Bewitched and Bedeviled makes a major contribution to our understanding of possession in early modern Europe and in general. It develops an original interpretation based on a well-grounded synthesis of recent work on the neurocognitive aspects of emotion, anger, and rage in particular, and extensive use of published pamphlets describing possession cases from the time. It will be welcomed by scholars working on early modern possession, popular religion, witchcraft, and magic as well as the history and neurophysiology of emotion." - Edward Bever, Professor of History, SUNY Old Westbury, USA and author of The Realities of Witchcraft and Popular Magic in Early Modern Europe

"Uszkalo's brilliant synthesis represents an all too rare transdisciplinary approach between cognitive neuroscience and social history. Both fields will be richer for it." - James L Olds, Professor of Molecular Neuroscience, George Mason University, USA

From the Publisher