Description
Book SynopsisThe nineteenth century was a time of extraordinary scientific innovation, but with the rise of psychiatry, faiths and popular beliefs were often seen as signs of a diseased mind. By exploring the beliefs of asylum patients, we see the nineteenth century in a new light, with science, faith, and the supernatural deeply entangled in a fast-changing world.The birth of psychiatry in the early nineteenth-century fundamentally changed how madness was categorised and understood. A century on, their conceptions of mental illness continue to influence our views today. Beliefs and behaviour were divided up into the pathological and the healthy. The influence of religion and the supernatural became significant measures of insanity in individuals, countries, and cultures. Psychiatrists not only thought they could transform society in the industrial age but also explain the many strange beliefs expressed in the distant past. Troubled by Faith explores these ideas about the supernatural across societ
Trade ReviewHugely impressive and absorbing * Anna Maria Barry, BBC History Magazine *
Davies's achievement is to have written a sort of counter-history to the kinds of early 19th-century histories of witchcraft with which his narrative opens. He eschews the retrospective diagnoses of the early psychiatrists and instead places individual experiences in the broader context of social and cultural change...He has assembled an extraordinary trove of snapshots of individual lives, and he treats them with sympathy and sensitivity. * George Morris, Literary Review *
Thanks to works as insightful as this one, we can better appreciate the early efforts to understand the mind. * Simon Ings, New Scientist *
An important addition to the history of psychiatry, but also to histories of folklore and religion in the 19th century. * Jennifer Wallis, Fortean Times *
Fascinating * A Bad Witch's Blog *
This innovative "mental archaeology" sets new agendas for historians of madness and the supernatural, showing the surprising cross-fertilization between faith and psychiatry in the nineteenth century. From the theorists of "demonomania" to the unfortunate souls whose fears blended witchcraft with electricity, the book brings to life the remarkable stories of people grappling with irrationality in modernity. * Dr William G. Pooley, University of Bristol *
Troubled by Faith offers a rich and memorable examination of the supernatural in nineteenth-century culture. Physicians pathologized magical thinking, but the so-called delusions of asylum patients were rooted in broader societal currents. Combining meticulous research with incisive analysis, Owen Davies compels us to reflect on the madness inherent in modernity. * Dr Martha McGill, University of Warwick *
A fascinating read * Elizabeth Wood *
Table of ContentsPreface Part one: A world of insanity Introduction 1: Explaining away the witch trials 2: Pathologizing the supernatural present 3: Madness in popular medicine 4: The mad, the bad, and the supernatural in court Part two: Inner lives Introduction 5: Between Heaven and Hell 6: Encounters with witches, spirits, and fairies 7: Making sense of science and technology Epilogue
