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Animal Magnetism in Motion
Le magnétisme animal en mouvement
Reconfigurations and Circulations, 1776-1848
Reconfigurations et circulations, 1776-1848
Published on Tuesday, October 04, 2022
Abstract
The European, and later global, circulation of theories and practices of animal magnetism, which covers a large part of the “long 19th century”, is a phenomenon that is significant but little studied in its complexity. The theory of the universal fluid and the magnetic therapies developed by Franz Anton Mesmer in Vienna flourished in Paris, and spread around 1784 all over France, to the colonies, to Malta and throughout Europe following the trajectories of learned, Masonic, mystical and esoteric societies, and of artistic and musical creation. This phenomenon of diffusion continued and was extended, particularly after the Revolution, in a double dynamic of claimed continuity with Mesmer’s discoveries, and of re-elaboration in the direction of the practices of somnambulism and hypnosis. It deserves to be studied from different sources, perspectives and disciplinary approaches.
Announcement
Presentation
The European, and later global, circulation of theories and practices of animal magnetism, which covers a large part of the “long 19th century”, is a phenomenon that is significant but little studied in its complexity. The theory of the universal fluid and the magnetic therapies developed by Franz Anton Mesmer in Vienna flourished in Paris, where he moved at the end of 1778. Around 1784, they spread not only all over France, but also to the colonies, to Malta with the network of Harmony societies, and throughout Europe following the trajectories of learned, Masonic, mystical and esoteric societies, and of artistic and musical creation. The texts of the disputes to which they gave rise to were read, translated, commented on and re-elaborated throughout Europe and beyond. While the presence of the “traces” of magnetism in all times and in all peoples became a topos in the writings of its supporters and opponents, the mesmeric fluid became a term capable of bringing together distant worlds, from Chinese culture in Jesuit correspondence to Haitian voodoo or, later, Indian faquirs. This phenomenon of diffusion continued and was extended, particularly after the Revolution, in a double dynamic of claimed continuity with Mesmer’s discoveries, and of re-elaboration in the direction of the practices of somnambulism and hypnosis. This phenomenon of interweaving and circulation, which is extensive, complex and multi-layered, deserves to be studied from different sources, perspectives and disciplinary approaches.
Program
Jeudi 20 octobre 2022
Salle Mis 11 – 2.102
- Introduction : Anita Thomas (Vice-Doyenne), Claire Gantet, David Armando 9h00-9h30
Usages et enjeux thérapeutiques
(président : Bruno Belhoste)
- François Zanetti (Université Paris VII): Le magnétisme animal au prisme de la médecine des eaux (acteurs, lieux, pratiques) 9h30-9h55
- Yvonne Wübben (Ruhr-Universität Bochum): Mesmerism and Madness: Narrative techniques in psychiatric and literary cases 9h55-10h20
Discussion 10h20-10h40,
Pause 10h40-11h
- Samuel Macaigne (EPHE, Paris) : Le magnétisme animal, entre thérapeutique et prière : le cas de Guillaume-Pascal Billot, 11h-11h25
- Kaat Wils (KU Leuven): Transnational encounters in the history of therapeutic magnetism in Belgium, 1830-1860, 11h25-11h50
Discussion 11h50-12h30
Cercles, réseaux, circulations
(président : Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire)
Salle Mis 04 – 4112 (Salle Jäggi)
- Markus Meumann, Olaf Simons (Forschungszentrum Gotha der Universität Erfurt): J. C. Bode’s Mesmeristic Library, 14h-14h25
- Anne Jeanson (EPHE, Paris) : Le réseau international du Journal du magnétisme, 1845-1861, 14h25-14h50
- Kapil Raj (EHESS, Paris): When Scottish Medicine Meets Indian Magic: Dr James Esdaile’s Mesmeric Surgery and Hospital in Mid-19th Century Bengal, 14h50-15h15
Discussion 15h15-15h35,
Pause 15h35-16h30
Magnétisme et littérature
(présidente : Jacqueline Carroy)
- Francesca Pagani (Università di Bergamo) : « La science des fluides impondérables ». L’imaginaire littéraire du magnétisme de Révéroni à Balzac, 16h30-16h55
- Jürgen Barkhoff (Trinity College Dublin), Gazes, Attractions and the Law of Gentleness. Mesmerism in Adalbert Stifter’s Brigitta, 16h55-17h20
- Emily Ogden (University of Virginia), Magnetic style in the work of Edgar Allan Poe, 17h20-17h45
Discussion 17h45-18h15
Vendredi 21 Octobre 2022
Salle Mis 11 – 2.102
Usages et enjeux politiques et sociaux
(président : Jean-Luc Chappey)
- Mélanie Traversier (Université Lille III) : Dans le salon des crises […] j’ai vu se pâmer des Marquises, aux doux sons de l’harmonica ». Réflexions sur la diffusion de l’harmonica de verre à l’épreuve du mesmérisme, 9h-9h25
- Olivier Ritz (Université Paris VII), Les origines magnétiques de la Révolution française, 9h25-9h50
- Francisco Javier Ramón Solans (Universidad Zaragoza): The introduction of animal magnetism in Spain 1808-1848, 9h50-10h15
Discussion 10h15-10h35, Pause 10h35-10h50
- Andrea Ceci (Università di Pisa/EPHE, Paris) : Magnétisme animal et socialisme utopique : circulations et réinterprétations le long d’une frontière poreuse, 10h50-11h15
- Nicole Edelman (Université Paris Nanterre) : Le mesmérisme a-t-il modifié le rapport entre les hommes et les femmes ? 11h15-11h40
Discussion 11h40-12h30
Redistribution des savoirs
(président : David Armando)
- Chloé Conickx (Universiteit Gent): A crisis of language: the re-configuration of animal magnetism in the 1784 debate, 14h-14h25
- Bastiaan van Rijn (Universität Bern): Between Science and Religion: Proving the Afterlife through Animal Magnetism, 14h25-14h50
Discussion 14h50-15h05
Discussion générale et conclusions, 15h05-16h00
Organizing committee
- David Armando,
- Bruno Belhoste,
- Jean-Luc Chappey,
- Claire Gantet,
- Markus Meumann,
- Olaf Simons
- Avec le généreux soutien de : IHMC, Paris ; Labex HaStec, Paris ; Université de Fribourg ; Fonds national de la recherche suisse
Contact
claire.gantet@unifr.ch
Practical informations
Lieux : Université de Fribourg
Mis 11, Kinderstube, Rue de l’Hôpital 4
Mis 04, salle Jäggi 4112, Av. de l’Europe 20
Lien pour visioconférence MS Teams sur demande
Subjects
- History (Main category)
Places
- Salle Laure Duraz Mis. 11 (Kinderstube) et Salle Jäggi Mis. 04-4112 - Avenue de l'Europe 20
Fribourg, Switzerland (1700)
Event attendance modalities
Hybrid event (on site and online)
Date(s)
- Thursday, October 20, 2022
- Friday, October 21, 2022
Attached files
Keywords
- Franz Anton Mesmer, Mesmérisme
Contact(s)
- Claire Gantet
courriel : claire [dot] gantet [at] unifr [dot] ch
Reference Urls
Information source
- Claire Gantet
courriel : claire [dot] gantet [at] unifr [dot] ch
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Animal Magnetism in Motion », Conference, symposium, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, October 04, 2022, https://calenda.org/1020790
