ABSTRACT
La historiografía sobre el mesmerismo y la hipnosis demuestra que hubo pocas mujeres que pusieran en práctica estos conocimientos. Así las cosas, la mujer que hipnotiza a un hombre se convierte en una revolucionaria, en un caso subversivo que da la vuelta no solo a una relación hipnótica clásica sino a una situación social e histórica de claro dominio patriarcal. En este trabajo analizo dos relatos de Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) protagonizados por mujeres hipnotizadoras: John Barrington Cowles (1884) y El parásito (1894). En el caso de John Barrington Cowles la mujer hipnotizadora está basada en el estereotipo literario y fílmico de la femme fatale, que será muy usado en diferentes formatos narrativos durante todo el siglo XX llegando a la actualidad; por otra parte, en el caso de El parásito la mujer hipnotizadora está mucho más cerca del estereotipo literario y folclórico de la bruja. En este sentido, apunto el papel fundamental que el estereotipo de mujer hipnotizadora tiene para los recientes estudios culturales de género. (AU)
The historiography on mesmerism and hypnosis shows that there were few women who put this knowledge into practice. In this sense, it is significant that there are few images of a woman hypnotizing a man and no images of a woman hypnotizing another woman. Thus, the woman who hypnotizes a man becomes a revolutionary, a subversive case that turns around not only a classic hypnotic relationship but also a social and historical situation of clear patriarchal domination. In this paper, I analyze two stories by Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) featuring female hypnotists: John Barrington Cowles (1884) and The Parasite (1894). In the case of John Barrington Cowles, the hypnotizing woman is based on the literary and filmic stereotype of the femme fatale, which will appear in many different narrative formats throughout the 20th century up to the present day. In the case of The Parasite, however, the hypnotizing woman is much closer to the literary and folkloric stereotype of the witch. In this sense, I point out the fundamental role that the stereotype of the hypnotizing woman has played in recent cultural gender studies. (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , History, 18th Century , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Hypnosis/history , Hypnotics and Sedatives/history , Women , Gender Identity , Gender StudiesABSTRACT
En el presente trabajo exploraremos la imagen literaria del magnetismo animal y de la hipnosis a través del análisis de dos obras de ficción: las novelas El escarabajo (1897) de Richard Marsh y Drácula (1897) de Bram Stoker. Durante todo el siglo XIX, aunque principalmente a finales de este, fueron muchos los autores que recurrieron al magnetismo animal y la hipnosis, de forma ambiental o argumental, en sus creaciones de ficción, tanto fue así que Arthur Quiller-Couch, un importante crítico literario del siglo XIX, llegó a hablar del surgimiento de un nuevo subgénero literario que acuñó como "hypnotic fiction". Partiendo de la idea de que en esta literatura de ficción mesmérica e hipnótica se pueden rastrear claramente unos estereotipos diferenciados de magnetizadores e hipnotizadores (unos más clásicos que otros) quienes hacen un uso diverso e incluso antagónico del magnetismo animal y de la hipnosis, mostraremos la relación de estos conocimientos con la figura del monstruo en las creaciones de Richard Marsh y Bram Stoker y como estos no pueden reducirse al estereotipo de magnetizador/hipnotizador villano, ya que los poderes mesméricos e hipnóticos funcionan aquí como agregados para conformar la monstruosidad del personaje
We will explore the literary image of animal magnetism and hypnosis through the analysis of two works of fiction: the novels Richard Marsh's The Beetle: A Mystery (1897) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). During all the 19th century and mainly at its last, many authors used animal magnetism and hypnosis in their fictional creations in an environmental or plot way, so much that Arthur Quiller-Couch, an important literary critic of the nineteenth century, spoke about the emergence of a new literary subgenre that he called "hypnotic fiction". Starting from the idea that in this mesmeric and hypnotic fiction literature you can clearly trace differentiated stereotypes of magnetizers and hypnotists (some of them more classic than others) which perform a diverse and even antagonistic use of animal magnetism and hypnosis, we will show the relationship of this knowledge with the figure of the monster in the creations of Richard Marsh and Bram Stoker and how these cannot be reduced to the stereotype of a villain magnetizer/hypnotist, as mesmeric and hypnotic powers work here as aggregates to conform the monstrosity of the character
Subject(s)
Humans , Literature/history , Hypnosis/history , Magnetic Phenomena , History, 19th CenturyABSTRACT
In this article, we focus on the social image of the phenomenon known as mesmerism, or animal magnetism, through analysis of the works: The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (1845) by Edgar Allan Poe, The Great Keinplatz Experiment (1885) by Conan Doyle and Trilby (1894) by George Du Maurier. We describe the stereotype of the mesmerist and the uses of mesmerism observed. We pay attention to the spaces and actors of the mesmeric transcript presented in the stories. We consider the reception of these stories by the public and the relationship of the authors with mesmeric and hypnotic knowledge. Nowadays, academic researchers in the discipline of psychology publish articles and books on popular myths about hypnosis in attempts to depict the distorted images related to this phenomenon. This distorted image of the hypnotic process and the hypnotist derives from "circus" hypnotism shows (stage hypnosis), the cinema, television and fictional literature. Works of fiction represent a unique and invaluable source of information, ideas, speculations, concerns and opportunities around animal magnetism and hypnosis, and the exploration and analysis of this literature is an essential chapter in any historical study of this topic. We see how the literary use of mesmerism by Poe, Doyle and Du Maurier is not chance or peripheral, with all three being intellectually interested in and stimulated by these ideas.
Subject(s)
Hypnosis , Literature, Modern/history , History, 19th Century , Humans , United Kingdom , United StatesABSTRACT
En el presente trabajo nos acercamos a la imagen social del fenómeno conocido como mesmerismo o magnetismo animal a través del análisis de las obras: The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar (1845) de Edgar Allan Poe, The Great Keinplatz Experiment (1885) de Conan Doyle y Trilby (1894) de George Du Maurier. Mostraremos cuál es el estereotipo del magnetizador y los usos que observamos del mesmerismo. Nos acercaremos a los espacios y actores del trasunto mesmerico presentado en los relatos. Tendremos en cuenta la recepción por parte del público de estas historias y las relaciones con los conocimientos mesmericos e hipnóticos que tenían los autores de éstas. En la actualidad, investigadores académicos, dentro de la disciplina de la psicología, publican artículos y libros sobre los mitos populares de la hipnosis intentando poner de manifiesto las imágenes distorsionadas referentes a este fenómeno. Esta imagen distorsionada del proceso hipnótico, y del hipnotizador, proviene de los espectáculos circenses de hipnosis (stage hypnosis), del cine, de la televisión y de la literatura de ficción. Por otro lado, tenemos en la literatura de ficción una fuente única e inestimable de datos, ideas, especulaciones, preocupaciones y posibilidades en torno al magnetismo animal e hipnosis que convierten su estudio y análisis en un capítulo imprescindible de cualquier trabajo histórico de este tema. Veremos cómo el uso literario del mesmerismo en el caso de Poe, Doyle y Du Maurier no es algo casual o periférico, sino que todos ellos estuvieron intelectualmente interesados y estimulados por estas ideas (AU)
In this article, we focus on the social image of the phenomenon known as mesmerism, or animal magnetism, through analysis of the works: The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (1845) by Edgar Allan Poe, The Great Keinplatz Experiment (1885) by Conan Doyle and Trilby (1894) by George Du Maurier. We describe the stereotype of the mesmerist and the uses of mesmerism observed. We pay attention to the spaces and actors of the mesmeric transcript presented in the stories. We consider the reception of these stories by the public and the relationship of the authors with mesmeric and hypnotic knowledge. Nowadays, academic researchers in the discipline of psychology publish articles and books on popular myths about hypnosis in attempts to depict the distorted images related to this phenomenon. This distorted image of the hypnotic process and the hypnotist derives from "circus" hypnotism shows (stage hypnosis), the cinema, television and fictional literature. Works of fiction represent a unique and invaluable source of information, ideas, speculations, concerns and opportunities around animal magnetism and hypnosis, and the exploration and analysis of this literature is an essential chapter in any historical study of this topic. We see how the literary use of mesmerism by Poe, Doyle and Du Maurier is not chance or peripheral, with all three being intellectually interested in and stimulated by these ideas (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Hypnosis/ethics , Hypnosis/history , Literature/history , Psychology, Clinical/education , Psychology, Clinical/methods , Motion Pictures/classification , Television/instrumentation , Hypnosis/instrumentation , Hypnosis/methods , Psychology, Clinical , Motion Pictures/historyABSTRACT
Este texto pretende mostrar algunos aspectos de las representaciones formadas en la opinión pública española acerca de la astronomía y la astrofísica, a partir del análisis de las noticias publicadas en algunas de las cabeceras más destacadas con motivo de la aparición del cometa de Halley en 1910. El interés despertado por la llegada de este cometa estuvo íntimamente ligado a su asociación con diferentes desastres y calamidades, representado en este caso por el equipaje de gases mortíferos que portaba y que desató una inquietud generalizada entre una parte importante de la población. Esta preocupación sirvió para reforzar y legitimar frente a la opinión pública la actividad desarrollada por los científicos, en particular los astrónomos, convertidos en expertos dedicados a tranquilizar a la población mediante datos espectroscópicos, cálculos de mecánica celeste y explicaciones sobre la naturaleza de las masas cometarias, acrecentando el prestigio y estatus social de la astronomía (AU)
The aim of this paper was to show some aspects of the representations formed in Spanish public opinion on astronomy and astrophysics, based on an analysis of the news published under some of the most prominent headlines on the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1910. The interest aroused by the arrival of this comet was closely bound to its association with different disasters and calamities, represented in this case by the load of lethal gas it carried and that generated widespread unease among a large part of the population. This concern served to reinforce and legitimize in the eyes of public opinion the activity developed by scientists and especially astronomers, who became experts devoted to calming the population with spectroscopic data, calculations of celestial mechanics, and explanations of the nature of comet masses, thereby increasing the prestige and social status of astronomy (AU)
