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Performing Magnetism : The Theatrics of Persuasion in the Long Nineteenth Century

By: Contributor(s): Resource type: Ressourcentyp: Buch (Online)Book (Online)Language: English Publisher: Leuven : Leuven University Press : Leuven University Press [Imprint], 2026Description: 1 Online-Ressource (1 electronic resource 250 p.)ISBN:
  • 9789461667519
  • 9789461667526
Subject(s): Online resources: Summary: The cultural and scientific significance of animal magnetism as performance. The long nineteenth century bears the mark of Anton Mesmer. In a burgeoning media landscape, and in an emerging entertainment culture that fashioned growing numbers of people into audiences, the performative qualities of Mesmer’s magnetic healing techniques came to define magnetism’s cultural power. Shaped by many performers, magnetism flowed into other practices – mentalist, somnambulist, spiritist, hypnotist, mystical, magical and medical. Examining mesmerism as a socially and theatrically embedded phenomenon, Performing Magnetism shows that it was not merely a medical or pseudoscientific practice but a performative and culturally situated one. Drawing on new case studies from Europe, Asia and Northern Africa, the book offers a transnational perspective on nineteenth-century epistemologies and explores how magnetic practices intersected with science, art, popular entertainment, and engagement with the occult. Its interdisciplinary scope will engage readers interested in the cultural history of performance, media, and knowledgePPN: PPN: 1983973653Package identifier: Produktsigel: ZDB-94-OAB
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