Archive for June 2017

[Previous message][Next message][Back to index]

[ecrea] Supernatural Entertainments in paperback

Wed Jun 14 17:30:37 GMT 2017



The book Supernatural Entertainments: Victorian Spiritualism and the Rise of Modern Media Culture, published by Penn State University Press, is now available as paperback.

You can find Supernatural Entertainments on the publisher website at this URL:
http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-07104-6.html

Reviews:

“An erudite, original examination of Victorian spiritualism and the rise of modern media. . . . This entertaining study fills a gap in the slighted investigation of spiritualism’s rise as a religious and cultural phenomenon. Highly recommended.”—D. B. Wilmeth, Choice

“This is an ambitious, overdue book, steeped in the period’s popular culture, and offering a fresh, insightful perspective on a topic familiar to its scholars.”—Susan Zieger, Media History

"After the contributions of writers like Janet Oppenheim, Molly McGarry, Alex Owen, Jeffrey Sconce, Robert A. Cox, Helen Sword, and Marlene Tromp, one might be forgiven for wondering if there were important academic books of spiritualism yet to be written. But now we have Simone Natale’s Supernatural Entertainments: Victorian Spiritualism and the Rise of Modern Media Culture, an absolutely vital addition to this body of research, with an approach that sounds banal and profound at once: spiritualism as entertainment."—Murray Leeder, Journal of Popular Culture

“The key achievement of Natale’s book is his thorough documentation of the ways the spiritualist movement was, in spite of its framing as a ‘scientific religion,’ indistinguishable from other kinds of performance, and a vigorous participant in mechanisms of the growing entertainment industry.”—James P. Stanley, Public Books

“Natale’s study offers a helpful corrective to approaches that ignore the entertainment value of spiritualism.”—Pericles Lewis, Los Angeles Review of Books

“An engaging and enlightening history of Spiritualism’s growth from a unique perspective.”—Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, PsyPioneer Journal

“Approaching Victorian supernaturalism as popular spectacle, Natale makes a compelling argument that nineteenth-century spiritualism made a significant contribution to what would become the dominant religion of the twentieth century: the entertainment industry. Rather than seeing the spiritualists and their energetic followers as gullible or deluded, Natale explores the more fascinating possibility that medium, circle, and audience helped redefine the possibilities of domestic leisure and public performance.”—Jeffrey Sconce, Northwestern University

“We all know that the supernatural is entertaining. Just turn on your television set or go to the movies. But this entertaining? Supernatural Entertainments is one of the most original books I have read in a long time. Simone Natale’s embrace of the history of technology, celebrity studies, material culture, popular culture, photography, and film studies to plumb the immediate historical background of the modern supernatural also makes it astonishingly capacious and interdisciplinary. Get ready for a ride. Or a show.”—Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal
---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please
use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at
http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------


[Previous message][Next message][Back to index]