"Phantasmagoria explores ideas of spirit and soul since the Enlightenment; it traces metaphors that have traditionally conveyed the presence of immaterial forces, and reveals how such pagan and Christian imagery about ethereal beings are embedded in a logic of the imagination, clothing spiritism the languages of air, clouds, light and shadow, glass, and ether itself. Moving from Wax to Film, the book also discusses key questions of imagination and cognition, and probes the perceived distinctions between fantasy and deception; it uncovers a host of spirit forms--angels, ghosts, fairies, revenants, and zombies--that are still actively present in contemporary culture."
Link: Amazon.ca: Phantasmagoria : Spirit Visions, Metaphors, and Media: Books: Marina Warner.
Warner is also lecturing in London today, October 14th, during the Ways Of Dying conference at the Tate Museum.
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