Shamanism and the Eighteenth Century - Couverture rigide

Flaherty, Gloria

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0691069239 ISBN 13 : 9780691069234

Editeur : Princeton University Press, 1992

Synopsis

Pursuing special experiences that take them to the brink of permanent madness or death, men and women in every age have "returned" to heal and comfort their fellow human beings - and these shamans have fascinated students of society from Herodotus to Mircea Eliade. This study describes the first Western encounters with shamanic peoples and practices. The author views the 18th century as an age in which explorers were fascinating all Europe with tales of shamans who accomplished a "self-induced cure for a self-induced fit". Reports from what must have seemed a forbidden world of strange rites and moral licentiousness came from botanists, geographers, missionaries and other travellers of the period. These accounts created such a stir that they permeated cafe talk, journal articles and learned debates, giving rise to plays, encyclopaedia articles, art and operas about shamanism.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Pursuing special experiences that take them to the brink of permanent madness or death, men and women in every age have "returned" to heal and comfort their fellow human beings--and these shamans have fascinated students of society from Herodotus to Mircea Eliade. Gloria Flaherty's book is about the first Western encounters with shamanic peoples and practices. Flaherty makes us see the eighteenth century as an age in which explorers were fascinating all Europe with tales of shamans who accomplished a "self-induced cure for a self-induced fit". Reports from what must have seemed a forbidden world of strange rites and moral licentiousness came from botanists, geographers, missionaries, and other travelers of the period, and these accounts created such a stir that they permeated caf talk, journal articles, and learned debates, giving rise to plays, encyclopedia articles, art, and operas about shamanism. The first part of the book describes in rich detail how information about shamanism entered the intellectual mainstream of the eighteenth century. In the second part Flaherty analyzes the artistic and critical implications of that process. In so doing, she offers remarkable chapters on Diderot, Herder, Goethe, and the cult of the genius of Mozart, as well as a chapter devoted to a new reading of Goethe's Faust that views Faust as the modern shaman. Originally published in 1992. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Princeton University Press
• Date d'édition: 1992
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0691069239
• ISBN 13: 9780691069234
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 342
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Princeton University Press; https://press.princeton.edu/books; ; 7th Floor, New South Building; PRINCETON; NJ; 8544; Etats-Unis
• Personne responsable: non disponible