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Loading... The Superstitious Mind: French Peasants and the Supernatural in the Nineteenth Centuryby Judith Devlin
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This intriguing book examines popular religion, traditional medicine, witchcraft, apparitions, demonology, and magic in nineteenth-century rural France. Devlin demonstrates that many of the impulses and mental processes now considered superstitious constituted a wholly reasonable response to the pressures of a harsh and impoverished life. Far from the product of a primitive mentality, many of these beliefs have survived in modern culture and can even illuminate the nature of modern mass politics. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)133.0944Philosophy and Psychology Parapsychology And Occultism Specific Topics Biography And History EuropeLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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The point of the book, initially, was to determine "were French peasants assiduous in their religious duties" as older historians have described? The answer is no, much like their English counterparts. Devin is in the same camp as Ronald Hutton, in that the misguided "pagan survival" argument does not hold up. However, superstition and folk practices, while practiced in a strictly Christian/Catholic context, was still alive and well. Saint cults, belief in witchcraft, ghosts, folk healing, etc were well known, and the Bretons were especially famous for it.
However, while Devin clearly wants to make an anthropological/ethnological point throughout, they rush to include it at the end of each chapter. I understand, and I forgive them for it. There are so many stories to tell, and it's tempting to include them all even at the expense of the objective. And Devin is excellent in their narration and passionate to share. But it would've been more appropriate to call this book a collection rather than a "study."
But there are talismans, possession (yes Loudun is discussed), charms, omens, the dead, prophecy, and folk tales! If you can find a copy (published 1952), I highly recommend it. ( )