Ghosts Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

- by
- •
- Antebellum South, Dark Tourism, Ghosts, Supernatural
- by Deirdre Barrett
- •
- Neuroscience, Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Applied Psychology

This article focuses on the relationship between the history of spiritualist séances in the nineteenth and early twentieth century and the introduction of film. It examines in particular two cases: the convergence of psychological studies on magic and spiritualism with early film theory, signalled in particular by Hugo Münsterberg's involvement in both fields; and the trajectory from spirit photography, a spiritualist practice that was based on the appearance of spectres on the photographic plate, to the trick movies of early cinema. The conclusion sets the relationship between beliefs in spirit and fictional representation of ghosts in film as a promising field of inquiry for contemporary film studies.

- by Simone Natale
- •
- Film Studies, Film Theory, Ghosts, Cultural History Of Ghosts

Encountering the Past within the Present: Modern Experiences of Time examines different encounters with the past from within the present-whether as commemoration, nostalgia, silence, ghostly haunting or combinations thereof. Taking its cue from Hannah Arendt's definition of the present as a time span lying between past and future, the author reflects on the old philosophical question of how to live the good life-not only with others who are physically with us but also with those whose presence is ghostly and liminal. While tradition may no longer command the same authority as it did in antiquity or the middle ages, individuals are by no means severed from the past. Rather, nostalgic longing for bygone times and traumatic preoccupation with painful historical events demonstrate the vitality of the past within the present. Divided into three parts, chapters examine ways in which the legacies of World War II, the Holocaust and communism have been remembered after 1945 and 1989. Maintaining a sustained reflection on the nexus of memory, modernity and time in tandem with ancient questions of responsibility for one another and the world, the volume contributes to the growing field of memory studies from a philosophical perspective. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology, social theory and philosophy with interests in collective memory and heritage.

- by Siobhan Kattago
- •
- Ghosts, Silence, Historical Consciousness, Commemoration and Memory

Abstract: A review of nearly 20 years of sociocultural research and trends on “ghostly episodes” (ghosts, haunted houses, and poltergeists) suggests that personal accounts, group investigations, and popular depictions of anomalous experiences function as active, meaningful, and potent cultural memes. These, in part, reflect interpersonal or group dynamics grounded in Durkheimian models, as well as Social Identity and Conflict theories. Expanding on and integrating these themes, this paper provides a general framework that explains the enduring popularity of ghost narratives in terms of their versatility, adaptability, participatory nature, universality, and scalability (VAPUS model). This perspective implies that ghostly episodes, as experiences and narratives, embody and exemplify the marketing concepts of “brand personality” and consumer engagement. Accordingly, social and cultural influences are discussed as important and inherent contextual variables that help to produce, promot...

- by Annalisa Ventola
- •
- Sociology, Popular Culture, Ghosts, Paranormal
- by Andrea Maraschi
- •
- Gender Studies, Ghosts, Cultural History Of Ghosts, Icelandic Sagas
- by Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
- •
- Teaching and Learning, Education, Jewish Studies, Film Studies

An essay on the ghost trains and their passengers that haunt 20th-century cultures

- by Robert J C Young
- •
- Ghosts, Cultural History Of Ghosts, Walter Benjamin, Sigmund Freud

This essay examines a particular class of ghost movies: those where the ghost is ultimately refused and relegated to the realm of human imagination and trickery. It focuses on the case of Paul Leni’s 1927 The Cat and the Canary, to show how this film remediates a long tradition of spectacular entertainments based on the rejection of supernaturalism, and how such rejection has important consequences in the narrative frame and in the nature of the gratification invited in their audience. The chapter applies the concept the “spectralization of the mind,” proposed by literature scholar Terry Castle, in order to explain the narrative and conceptual role played by ghosts in this film. Particular attention is also given to the use of superimposition techniques and to the interpretation of noise as a sign of ghostly presence.

- by Simone Natale
- •
- Silent Film, Ghosts, Cultural History Of Ghosts, Early Cinema
- by Srdjan Smajic
- •
- Psychology, Anthropology, Folklore, Victorian Studies

The forest is intrinsic to the lives of shepherds, who are constantly on the move in search of fresh pastures for their goats and sheep. The forest, or the ‘waste-land’, separates the shepherds from the settled communities that they interact with across the altitudinal landscape. The forest is also a dominant cultural ‘space’ in which the variegated ethos, imbibed over centuries of interaction with the ‘settled communities’, is processed to impart a new meaning to the universe of the shepherds. This is an enchanted universe where birds speak, animals help and humans are transformed, to evoke in ‘us’ the sense of the ‘miraculous’ and the ‘marvellous’. In this world, the grotesque and sublime merge into each other and conjure a unique cosmology where the sense of wonder is heightened by the ‘super-natural’ that fashions a new myth. The vibrancy of struggle between ‘settlement’ and ‘nomadism’ is reflected in the folk-imaginary, where the ‘elements’, animals and humans play a role in attempting to create a ‘just-society’. This is illustrated through folktales, two of which have been translated and presented here, popular among the shepherds of Chamba in Himachal Pradesh.

- by mahesh sharma
- •
- Cultural Studies, Folklore, Social Anthropology, South Asian Studies
- by Christiane Wilke
- •
- Critical Legal Theory, Ghosts, Transitional Justice, Twentieth Century Germany

This article argues that the Australian film Lake Mungo (2008) probes key questions regarding the relationship between visual technology, perception and truth. This means that rather than only view events that occur in the film at the diegetic level of character action and interaction, it is critical to appreciate how the film is engaging audiences at the level of form.

- by Dr. Tyson Wils
- •
- Technology, Film Studies, Film Analysis, Ghosts

4. President’s Letter
New SPR President, Prof. John Poynton, asks whether the tide has turned for psychical research.
6. The Medium
Dr Leo Ruickbie talks to Kai Mügge about his life and work as a physical medium, including the question of investigation.
12. The Séance
After the table levitated, what happened next? Dr Leo Ruickbie details his recent experience of a séance with Kai Mügge and the Felix Circle.
16. Listening to Tea Leaves
Ann R. Winsper asks whether electronic voice phenomena are genuine spirit communications or ‘audible tea leaves’.
19. Voices from Pennsylvania
Dr Peter McCue details his analysis of audio files purporting to be communications from the spirits of the deceased.
|22. Auditory Hallucinations
Dr James Paul Pandarakalam poses the question whether the source of auditory hallucinations lies beyond the material brain.
26. The Enfield Saga
Guy Lyon Playfair chronicles the history of the Enfield poltergeist from This House is Haunted to the TV drama The Enfield Haunting.
28. Macfadyen on Enfield
Actor Matthew Macfadyen reveals what it was like to play Guy Lyon Playfair in the recent Sky Living mini-series The Enfield Haunting.
30. The Enfield Effect
SPR Council Member John Fraser considers the increased interest in the SPR and asks what should be done about it.
31. No Coincidence
What happened when the Centre for the Study of Anomalous Psychological Processes went to Crete? Callum Cooper tells all.
33. Ex Libris
SPR Librarian Karen Patel reveals what is new on the library shelves.
34. Ghosts in the Machines
Brandon Hodge searches for the remains of the famous spirit room of Jonathan Koons.
36. Letters
Prof. Peter Mulacz responds to criticisms of his article in PR74.
39. Contributors
40. Events

Un revenant c'est, anthropologiquement, un disparu qui revient pour réclamer son dû. C’est, en ce sens, le symptôme d’un malaise que la communauté ne peut plus retenir ni contenir : celle-ci est sommée, par l’apparition, d’intégrer symboliquement, suivant un ensemble réglé de rituels et un effort collectif de remémoration, ses réquisits. Or si la cohésion sociale risque sans cesse d’être entamée par ces fantômes inquiétants et impérieux qui travaillent souterrainement les fondements de la société, c’est peut-être parce qu’ils sont eux-mêmes le signe d’une corrosion déjà entamée. La revenance perturbe notre rapport au temps, ce rapport que l’historicisme voudrait identique au « cadre homogène et vide » de l’histoire sans mémoire. C’est une présence souterraine toujours agissante qui oblige les vivants à restituer la part des morts mais aussi à tenir les promesses dont ceux-ci ont été frustrés.

- by Marc Berdet and +1
- •
- Georges Didi-Huberman, Ghosts, Cultural History Of Ghosts, Waste recycling

Spuk und Geistererscheinungen: So etwas gibt es doch gar nicht! Oder etwa doch?
In dieser Quellensammlung wird berichtet, was in Freiburg von 1800 bis heute diesbezüglich überliefert worden ist und wie das Gepenstische auch anderweitig behandelt und aufgegriffen wurde – beispielsweise in der Sagenliteratur oder auch in der Kunst.
Lassen Sie sich davon überraschen, welche ungewöhnlichen Aspekte die Freiburger Stadtgeschichte zu bieten hat.
Die Publikation ist im Kontext des Freiburger Stadtjubiläums "Freiburg 2020" mit städtischer Förderung entstanden.

- by Sung-Ae Lee
- •
- Horror Film, Ghosts, Korean film, Horror Cinema
- by John Sabol
- •
- Cultural History, Cultural Heritage, Popular Culture, Ghosts
- by Ármann Jakobsson
- •
- Religion, Mythology And Folklore, Folklore, Mythology

Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) The Spirit Box or Ghost Box is an ITC device (Instrumental Transcommunication). In its short form, this is usually a video or audio electronic device used to attempt communications with a spirit or... more

- by Eric Haney
- •
- Ghosts, Paranormal, Paranormal Phenomena, EVP
- by John Sabol
- •
- Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture, Psychogeography

Das Gespenstische hat Konjunktur, auch in der Welt der Wissenschaft. Seit einigen Jahren, deutlich verstärkt zu Beginn unseres noch jungen Jahrtausends, fällt die Zunahme einschlägiger Titel in profilierten akademischen Verlagen und Zeitschriften auf. Gespenster - Erscheinungen-Medien-Theorien, Gespenster und Politik, Gespenster und Gelehrte, Kultur & Gespenster, Gespenster der Migration, Kollektive Gespenster, Diskrete Gespenster, Jelineks Gespenster, Rousseaus Gespenster... Setzt man die Suche mit Schlagworten wie Geister, Wiedergänger, Untote im deutschen Sprachraum fort, oder international mit Ghosts, Spirits, Haunting, Uncanny, Specter, Spectral, Spectrality, so staunt man, auf welchen akademischen Feldern überall Geisterhaftes gesichtet wird: in Literatur-, Film-, Theater-, Medien-, Geschichts- und Politikwissenschaft, post-kolonialer Theorie, Gender- und Migrationsforschung, den Queer Studies, und selbst in der Soziologie trifft man hier und da auf Ghostly Matters. Fast könnte man meinen, man hätte es mit einem weiteren cultural turn zu tun, womöglich einem spectral oder ghostly turn.

- by Peter J. Bräunlein
- •
- Ghosts, Cultural History Of Ghosts, Jacques Derrida, Bruno Latour

Globally, cities are grappling with rapid urbanization and problems related to resource management, sustainable development, and climate change mitigation. To overcome these challenges, policy makers and academicians are focusing on the idea of smart city. Both developed and developing nations are cooperating and signing memorandum of understanding with each other to transform their old and traditional cities into smart cities.

- by Publisher ijmra.us UGC Approved
- •
- Ghosts
- by Brooke Bartosh Kennel
- •
- Violence, Kinship (Anthropology), Ghosts, Cultural History Of Ghosts

L’Invention des morts explore les relations que les Mongols entretiennent au quotidien avec leurs défunts. S’appuyant sur une enquête menée chez les pasteurs nomades Dörvöd et dans la capitale Ulaanbaatar de 1999 à 2005, Grégory Delaplace montre que les morts sont au centre de pratiques discrètes, par lesquelles éleveurs et citadins embrassent ou rejettent des idéologies modernistes et socialisent un environnement peuplé de « maîtres » invisibles. L’étude successive des sépultures, des histoires de fantômes et des usages sociaux de la photographie conduit le lecteur à travers les multiples procédés et petites trouvailles tactiques par lesquels les morts sont « inventés » comme les partenaires de relations formelles ouintimes qui subvertissent les cadres institutionnels imposés par l’État et le clergé. En décrivant à travers des matériaux originaux l’art de vivre avec les morts dans la Mongolie d’aujourd’hui, ce livre ne comble pas seulement un manque dans la littérature ethnographique régionale, il propose une méthode renouvelée pour l’anthropologie.

- by Grégory Delaplace
- •
- Photography, Mongolian Studies, Post-socialism (Anthropology), Ghosts
- by Andrea Maraschi
- •
- History of Science, Ghosts, Cultural History Of Ghosts, Vampires
- by Christian Begemann
- •
- Ghosts, Gothic Literature, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Ghost stories

In Tulunadu those who meet a violent death fighting for a just cause may become demi-gods, or bhūtas. Here, death is a kind of apotheosis, where those who fought against injustice become divine figures after death, receiving a cult in a shrine. Quite different is the story of those who simply experienced a violent death before they even managed to get married. They return as ghosts, pretas, and their kin suffer from their absence, but still fear the pretas and try to appease them by all available means. The paradox is that when pretas manifest themselves their un-wanted presence is frightening, while at the same time their absence is experienced as grief. This creates a kind of double bind, which villagers may try to resolve by celebrating the marriage of ghosts, enabling their deceased siblings to marry. This marriage induces the families of bride and bridegroom to unite in their grief, while trying to appease the young ghosts who torment them. This ritual, often held secretly, was documented by a photographer from the fisherman caste who had himself experienced similar fear when his brother-in-law, still a bachelor, committed suicide. The paper reflects on the fear he experienced, wondering if the ritual could really appease the kin.

- by Marine Carrin
- •
- Ghosts, Ritual Theory, India, Ritual Practices
- by Koen Vermeir
- •
- History, Cultural History, Philosophy of Science, History of Religion
- by Benjamin Baumann
- •
- Thai Studies, Religion and Thai Culture, Horror Film, Ghosts

The word paranormal comes from the words "para" meaning beyond, and normal. So the term paranormal really means something that is beyond the normal scope of science or being beyond a scientific explanation.
Paranormal Investigating can be excited and scary at the same time. It takes a certain type of person to search for paranormal activity and if you really think about it, searching for ghosts or other paranormal activity is quite frankly, a pretty scary situation, which is why a Paranormal investigator must have a strong mental attitude, and be ready to not panic in stressful or dangerous situations.
This book is ideal for those who are new to paranormal investigation and also for more experienced investigators who want to learn more about how to apply a critical-path scientific approach. Perhaps most importantly, the book contains an entire chapter of information about precautions to be taken during paranormal investigation.

- by Jesper Timmerman
- •
- Chinese Philosophy, Ghosts, Classical Chinese literature, Chinese literature

The Author would like to point out Jacques Derrida's concept of hauntology which perfectly describes the experience of literature and contemporary world as haunted. Therefore, he follows closely the psychoanalytical concepts of phantom and crypt made by Nicolas Abraham and Maria Torok. Then the Author shows how the notion of specter was absorbed and could be use in literature studies (Esther Rashkin, Nicholas Royle, Jodey Castricano). Derrida's theory makes it possible to perceive literature not as homogenic and coherent but as open structure, inhabited by voices of Otherness.

- by Andrzej Marzec
- •
- Philosophy, Humanities, Death, Death Studies

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. A...

- by Catherine Jenkins
- •
- Cultural History, Media Archaeology, Art, History of Religion

In this article, we attempt to unravel the family-based haunted house film patterns in both Malaysia and America. Certain types of tropes and attributes have been used by horror filmmakers over the years to define the family motif-pattern of haunted houses in the media. Some of these elements have undergone change over time but most of them still adhere to the rules that constitute the family-based haunted house film patterns based on two Malay films and two American films. These rules were compared and contrasted by applying a combination of two theories which were formulated by Propp and Bailey. Application of these formulas has resulted in the findings of twelve plot functions as examined in this article. Upon analysis of the corpus, it has also been found that there are 10 existing attributes of a haunted house. The findings suggest that the haunted house film pattern is not merely a motif but it is also able to exhibit a number of themes which are considered prominent in haunted house films such as the Manichean clash between good and evil. The convergence and divergence between the Malaysian and American horror flicks show that cultural and religious practices govern the ways in which good and evil are expressed.

- by Dr Ahmad Muhyiddin B Yusof
- •
- English Literature, Ghosts, Horror films, Haunted houses
- by Francis T. McAndrew
- •
- Evolutionary Psychology, Ghosts
- by Roger I Lohmann
- •
- Archaeology, Death, Death (Anthropology), Ritual

Vivid in Japanese art and imagination are creatures that are at once ghastly and humorous. The Japanese word yokai generally refers to a range of supernatural beings such as ghosts, demons, monsters, shapeshifters, tricksters, and other strange kinds of creatures. While their status is commonly described as supernatural, they exist or appear in the natural, human world. Today, yokai are wildly popular in Japan. They are prevalent across contemporary entertainment genres such as manga (“comics”) and anime (“animation”) series, horror movies, and video games, and they also manifest as the subject of related material culture objects like game cards, character t-shirts, cuddly plushies, and collectable gashapon capsule toys. This diverse array of yokai imagery and materiality is deeply rooted in the past. Yokai images and their stories are enduring, and there is no question that what we see in hot commodities today is closely aligned with traditional Japanese folklore. Yokai: Ghosts & Demons of Japan explores yokai and their popularity in Japan through multiple perspectives of yokai: what they are, their associated tales, how people engaged with or interpreted yokai in different contexts, and why they remain so popular in Japan. The contributors to this book are among eminent scholars, creators, and promoters of various aspects of yokai culture. The interdisciplinary nature of this book’s presentation vibrantly illustrates yokai from different angles, allowing for a broad view of their cultural scope in Japan. In addition, the contributors delve into popular culture themes, connecting traditional folklore, folk art, and imagery to trends in Japan as well as in the United States.
Contributors: Felicia Katz-Harris, Komatsu Kazuhiko, Noriko Tsunoda Reider, Satoko Shimazaki, Michael Dylan Foster, Adam Kabat, Kagawa Masanobu, Zack Davisson, Yumoto Koichi, & Kono Junya.

- by Felicia Katz-Harris
- •
- Folklore, Popular Culture, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ghosts
- by HERBERT GONZALEZ ZYMLA
- •
- Iconography, Medieval Studies, Ghosts, Medieval Art

Ghost Writing in Contemporary American Fiction is about the appearance of the specter in the work of five major US authors, and argues from this work that every one of us is a ghost writing, haunting ourselves and others. The book’s innovative structure sees chapters on Paul Auster, Don DeLillo, Toni Morrison, Marilynne Robinson, and Philip Roth alternating with shorter sections detailing the significance of the ghost in the work of French philosopher Jacques Derrida, author of Specters of Marx. Together, these accounts of phantoms, shadows, haunts, spirit, the death sentence, and hospitality provide a compelling theoretical context in which to read contemporary US literature. Ghost Writing in Contemporary American Fiction argues at every stage that there is no self, no relation to the other, no love, no home, no mourning, no future, no trace of life without the return of the specter, that is, without ghost writing.

- by David Coughlan
- •
- Critical Theory, American Literature, Jewish American Literature, American Studies