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Animal Magnetism as Ecocriticism for a Time of Pandemic
Contemporary French and Francophone Studies Pub Date : 2021-03-10 , DOI: 10.1080/17409292.2021.1865057
Kari Weil 1
Affiliation  

Abstract

Towards the end of the eighteenth century the Austrian physician, Anton Mesmer, posited the existence of a universal fluid that surrounds, penetrates, and connects all bodies, much like the interplanetary forces of attraction and repulsion. The correct flow of this fluid, he believed, was responsible for both physical and psychic health and he developed his practice of animal magnetism as a therapy for those who experienced the ranging symptoms of its blockage. Because the fluid’s existence could not be proven, however, the practice was condemned and Mesmer was banished from Paris. In this paper, I argue that the conceptions behind this invisible fluid and the notions of human-animality and material sympathy it draws upon, are prescient for ecocriticism today. Mesmer and his followers posited the permeability of bodies to flows of affection and infection that put them in necessary communication with other bodies as with their environments. As we know from our own pandemic, such contact is risky. Animal magnetism shows that it is also necessary for healing and for life itself.



中文翻译:

大流行时期的动物磁性作为生态批评

摘要

到18世纪末,奥地利医生安东·梅斯默(Anton Mesmer)提出了一种普遍存在的流体,它围绕,渗透和连接所有物体,就像行星间的吸引力和排斥力一样。他认为,这种液体的正确流动对身体和心理健康都有影响,并且他发展了动物磁性的实践,以治疗那些经历了各种形式的阻塞症状的人。但是,由于无法证实流体的存在,因此对该行为进行了谴责,并从巴黎驱逐了Mesmer。在本文中,我认为,这种无形的流体背后的概念及其所引用的人类动物性和物质同情性概念,对于当今的生态批评是有先见之明的。梅斯默和他的追随者们认为,身体对情感和感染流动的渗透性使他们与其他身体以及周围环境进行必要的交流。从我们自己的大流行中我们知道,这种接触是有风险的。动物的磁性表明,它对于康复和生命本身也是必需的。

更新日期:2021-03-10
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