Possessed Victorians

[Dave Monroe]

Wilburn, Sarah A. Possessed Victorians:
   Extra Spheres in Nineteenth-Century Mystical
   Writings.  Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2006.

In her absorbing study of nineteenth-century mystical
writings, Sarah Willburn formulates a new conception
of individualism that offers a fresh look at Victorian
subjectivity. Drawing upon extensive archival work in
the British Library, Willburn analyzes séance
accounts, novels about mediumship, and metaphysical
treatises to make important connections between
contemporary writings on mysticism and fictional
works. Willburn presents the theories of compelling
characters such as Newton Crosland and Lois
Waisbrooker and provides exciting new readings of
well-known texts by Charlotte Brontë, Eliot,
Martineau, and Corelli.

An understanding of the Victorian fascination with
mysticism, Willburn argues, leads to a better
appreciation of cultural constructions of the citizen
in England and of the public sphere. She introduces
two key concepts against the backdrop of popular
mysticism: "possessed individualism," a model for
Victorian individualism based on spiritual possession,
and "extra spheres," which complicate the traditional
binary opposition of public and private. Together,
these formulations urge us to rethink our views of
Victorian political economy and gender as they pertain
to mystical and religious practices.

https://www.ashgate.com/shopping/title.asp?isbn=0%207546%205540%207


 
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