Creative histories of witchcraft : France, 1790-1940 / Poppy Corbett, Newcastle University, Anna Kisby Compton, Independent Scholar, William G. Pooley, University of Bristol
Published
Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2022
How can researchers study magic without destroying its mystery? Drawing on a collaborative project between the playwright Poppy Corbett, the poet Anna Kisby Compton, and the historian William G. Pooley, this Element presents thirteen tools for creative-academic research into magic, illustrated through case studies from France (1790-1940) and examples from creative outputs: write to discover; borrow forms; use the whole page; play with footnotes; erase the sources; write short; accumulate fragments; re-enact; improvise; use dialogue; change perspective; make methods of metaphors; use props. These tools are ways to 'untell' the dominant narratives that shape stereotypes of the 'witch' which frame belief in witchcraft as ignorant and outdated. Writing differently suggests ways to think and feel differently, to stay with the magic, rather than explaining it away. The Element includes practical creative exercises to try as well as research materials from French newspaper and trial sources from the period
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on June 02, 2022)
