Mesmerism and Literature

FAIN: FB-12222-74

Maria Tatar
President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA 02138-3800)

To study the role of mesmerism in German Romantic literature because mesmerist doctrines represent an ideal summation of scientific, philosophical, and psychological isses in this period. the critical value of this study rests on the assumption that such issues are essential to an understanding of literature. To provide not only a historical context for the mesmerist movement in Europe and in America, but also an evaluation of the impact of mesmerism on nineteenth-century literature.