eBook

Supernatural entertainments : Victorian spiritualism and the rise of modern media culture

Natale, Simone

2016,2021

Overview

In Supernatural Entertainments, Simone Natale vividly depicts spiritualism's rise as a religious and cultural phenomenon and explores its strong connection to the growth of the media entertainment industry in the nineteenth century. He frames the spiritualist movement as part of a new commodity culture that changed how public entertainments were produced and consumed. Starting with the story of the Fox sisters, considered the first spiritualist mediums in history, Natale follows the trajectory of spiritualism in Great Britain and the United States from its foundation in 1848 to the beginning of the twentieth century. He demonstrates that spiritualist mediums and leaders adopted many of the promotional strategies and spectacular techniques that were being developed for the broader entertainment industry. Spiritualist mediums were indistinguishable from other professional performers, as they had managers and agents, advertised in the press, and used spectacularism to draw audiences. Addressing the overlap between spiritualism's explosion and nineteenth-century show business, Natale provides an archaeology of how the supernatural became a powerful force in the media and popular culture of today.

• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press,Penn State University Press
• Subject: 19th Century / culture supernatural paranormal / culture visual culture / esotericism religion history of religion / HISTORY / HISTORY / Modern / General / history of parapsychology / industry show business media / media archaeology entertainment / Media Studies / Occult history of spiritualism / Popular culture -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century / Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 19th century / Seances -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century / Seances -- United States -- History -- 19th century / SOCIAL SCIENCE / spirit photography Eusapia Palladino / Spiritualism -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century / Spiritualism -- United States -- History -- 19th century / stardom print media / supernatural beliefs early cinema / séance spiritualist medium celebrity / United States
• ISBN: 0271071044, 9780271071053, 0271071052, 9780271071046, 9780271077390, 0271077395