Altered States: Sex, Nation, Drugs, and Self-Transformation in Victorian Spiritualism
(Part of the SUNY Series: Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century Series)
Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
Considers the role of Spiritualism in Victorian culture.
Altered States examines the rise of Spiritualism-the religion of s ances, mediums, and ghostly encounters-in the Victorian period and the role it played in undermining both traditional female roles and the rhetoric of imperialism. Focusing on a particular kind of s ance event-the full-form materialization-and the bodies of the young, female mediums who performed it, Marlene Tromp argues that in the altered state of the s ance new ways of understanding identity and relationships became possible. This not only demonstrably shaped the thinking of the Spiritualists, but also the popular consciousness of the period. In diaries, letters, newspaper accounts, scientific reports, and popular fiction, Tromp uncovers evidence that the radical views presented in the faith permeated and influenced mainstream Victorian thought.
Customer Reviews
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
