‘Il corpo incantato’. Medicine, Magic and Aesthetics of ‘unconscious cerebration’
The essay explores the notion of ‘unconscious cerebration’ elaborated by British physiologist William Benjamin Carpenter in the first half of the nineteenth century, foregrounding its hybrid genealogy and its afterlife in both science and magic, as well as its transnational impact on the arts and ps...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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UNICApress
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Between |
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.unica.it/index.php/between/article/view/4383 |
| _version_ | 1797724181079523328 |
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| author | Alessandra Violi |
| author_facet | Alessandra Violi |
| author_sort | Alessandra Violi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The essay explores the notion of ‘unconscious cerebration’ elaborated by British physiologist William Benjamin Carpenter in the first half of the nineteenth century, foregrounding its hybrid genealogy and its afterlife in both science and magic, as well as its transnational impact on the arts and psychology as an already available alternative to the Freudian unconscious. Carpenter’s idea of a corporeal unconscious is traced to the intersections of (occult) science, literature and visual culture, but also comparatively as it rippled off into European, American and Russian cultures, offering a shared notion of a bodily, physiological nonconscious that the Freudian tradition in psychoanalysis has long eclipsed and obscured. Italian Futurism is taken as a test case of the rich, and still underexplored, potentials of Carpenter’s intuition for an archeology both of ‘the unconscious’ and of contemporary returns in the humanities to materiality and embodiment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T10:12:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-617e07cde7664f6ca6c2533bdfbe0893 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2039-6597 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T10:12:41Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | UNICApress |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Between |
| spelling | doaj.art-617e07cde7664f6ca6c2533bdfbe08932023-09-02T10:43:01ZengUNICApressBetween2039-65972021-05-01112110.13125/2039-6597/4383‘Il corpo incantato’. Medicine, Magic and Aesthetics of ‘unconscious cerebration’Alessandra Violi0University of BergamoThe essay explores the notion of ‘unconscious cerebration’ elaborated by British physiologist William Benjamin Carpenter in the first half of the nineteenth century, foregrounding its hybrid genealogy and its afterlife in both science and magic, as well as its transnational impact on the arts and psychology as an already available alternative to the Freudian unconscious. Carpenter’s idea of a corporeal unconscious is traced to the intersections of (occult) science, literature and visual culture, but also comparatively as it rippled off into European, American and Russian cultures, offering a shared notion of a bodily, physiological nonconscious that the Freudian tradition in psychoanalysis has long eclipsed and obscured. Italian Futurism is taken as a test case of the rich, and still underexplored, potentials of Carpenter’s intuition for an archeology both of ‘the unconscious’ and of contemporary returns in the humanities to materiality and embodiment.https://ojs.unica.it/index.php/between/article/view/4383William Benjamin CarpenterUnconscious cerebrationIdeo-motorEmbodimentWilliam JamesFilippo Tommaso Marinetti |
| spellingShingle | Alessandra Violi ‘Il corpo incantato’. Medicine, Magic and Aesthetics of ‘unconscious cerebration’ Between William Benjamin Carpenter Unconscious cerebration Ideo-motor Embodiment William James Filippo Tommaso Marinetti |
| title | ‘Il corpo incantato’. Medicine, Magic and Aesthetics of ‘unconscious cerebration’ |
| title_full | ‘Il corpo incantato’. Medicine, Magic and Aesthetics of ‘unconscious cerebration’ |
| title_fullStr | ‘Il corpo incantato’. Medicine, Magic and Aesthetics of ‘unconscious cerebration’ |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Il corpo incantato’. Medicine, Magic and Aesthetics of ‘unconscious cerebration’ |
| title_short | ‘Il corpo incantato’. Medicine, Magic and Aesthetics of ‘unconscious cerebration’ |
| title_sort | il corpo incantato medicine magic and aesthetics of unconscious cerebration |
| topic | William Benjamin Carpenter Unconscious cerebration Ideo-motor Embodiment William James Filippo Tommaso Marinetti |
| url | https://ojs.unica.it/index.php/between/article/view/4383 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alessandravioli ilcorpoincantatomedicinemagicandaestheticsofunconsciouscerebration |