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.

Keywords

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

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.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title: Bewitched and Bedeviled
Book Subtitle: A Cognitive Approach to Embodiment in Early English Possession
Authors: Kirsten C. Uszkalo
Series Title: Cognitive Studies in Literature and Performance
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137498229
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature Collection, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-51224-6Published: 01 July 2015
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-49822-9Published: 18 January 2016
Series ISSN: 2945-7297
Series E-ISSN: 2945-7300
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 263
Number of Illustrations: 7 b/w illustrations
Topics: Early Modern/Renaissance Literature, Literary Theory, Cultural Theory, Modern History, History of Philosophy, History of Religion

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Authors:

Sections

Buy it now

Buying options

Other ways to access

Table of contents (7 chapters)

Front Matter

Introduction: Grounding Rage Possession

Early Diagnostics

Contemporary Theories

Embodied Spirituality | Embodied Cognition

Performance | Contamination

Reconciliation | Dispossession | Exorcism

Conclusion: Reproducing and Representing Demoniacs

Back Matter

About this book