The second half of the nineteenth century saw remarkable developments in science and technology, from transportation, telephony, and telegraphy to natural history, electricity, and photography. Culturally, these developments were paralleled by a surge of interest in esoteric knowledge (ceremonial magic, astrology, alchemy, etc.) as well as paranormal phenomena more generally. Occult discourse became an important part of the cultural zeitgeist, and numerous groups appeared that were dedicated to the study of magic and the supernatural, such as the Theosophical Society, the Order of the Golden Dawn, and the Society for Psychic Research. In this class we will examine the dialogue between occult/esoteric discourse and literature from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century. We will not simply look for direct references to esoteric themes; instead, we will examine how the occult is present on the level of literary meaning-making, how certain literary techniques correspond to aspects of esoteric knowledge. Among the authors we will look at are E.A. Poe, George Eliot, Arthur Machen, Vernon Lee, and W.B. Yeats.
All the texts will be provided on Moodle at the start of the semester.
Die Veranstaltung wurde 1 mal im Vorlesungsverzeichnis SoSe 2025 gefunden:
