When did ghosts become transparent? The weird cultural history of the paranormal
How did ghosts become transparent? Here's our spooky Halloween offering -- a deep dive into the cultural history of ghosts and ghost lore in Western Europe and North America. Drawing from recently published sociological and historical research, we're going to explore the historical origins of three different representations of ghosts: 1) the idea that ghosts can appear as transparent apparitions; 2) the idea the poltergeists can communicate through knocking on surfaces; and 3) we'll explore the iconography of the 'long-haired ghost girl'. Enjoy -- and have a festive Spookyween!
The host, Dr. Alexander K. Smith, holds an MA from Oxford University and a PhD in the anthropology of Tibet and the Himalayas from the University of Paris, France.
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If you would like to learn more about the sociology or cultural history of ghosts, consider some of our recommended readings and cited works:
Bader, C., Mencken, F., and Baker, J. 2010. Paranormal America: Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture. New York University Press.
Buckland, Rosina. 2020. “The Visual Representation of Ghosts in Early Modern Japan” in Sandy et al. [below].
Josephson-Storm, Jason A. 2017. The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences. University of Chicago Press.
Leeder, Murray (ed). 2015. Cinematic Ghosts: Haunting and Spectrality from Silent Cinema to the Digital Era.
Owens, Susan. 2023. The Ghost: A Cultural History. Tate Publishing
Sandy, Mark et al. 2020. Ghostly Encounters: Cultural and Imaginary Representations of the Spectral from the Nineteenth Century to the Present.
Sconce, Jeffrey. 2000. Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from Telegraphy to Television. Duke University Press.
Waskul, Dennis and Michelle Waskul. 2016. Ghostly Encounters: The Hauntings of Everyday Life. Temple University Press.
Waskul, Dennis and Mark Eaton (eds). 2018. The Supernatural in Society, Culture, and History. Temple University Press.
[endnotes will follow shortly, sorry!]
00:00 Introduction
01:21 Why studying ghosts encounters is important
02:16 Why are ghosts translucent
05:20 Why do poltergeists communicate through knocking
09:23 The Long Haired Ghost Girl
12:18 Conclusion
Пікірлер: 14
Would love to hear about other cultures relationship with “ghosts”!
@ArmchairAcademics
9 ай бұрын
That's a great idea! And it's something we can definitely do -- or even build a series of videos around. Thanks for posting. We're going to put that idea in the books.
As someone who started in mortuary science and continuing to add B.S. Anthropology because I became obsessed with embalming, funeral cultures, and death customs in general, this is perfect and everything I love!! Found another rabbit hole to get lost in. Hopefully we can get more of these!
@ArmchairAcademics
4 ай бұрын
Hey there! Thanks so much for the kind words. Really happy you enjoyed this one. I loved making it and have been a bit disappointed by its performance, so seeing people get something out of the work means a lot. I do think we'll be making at least one of these every year -- maybe two. All focusing on the cultural history of ghosts in different cultures. That's actually something I worked on ages ago during my PhD, so it's near and dear to my heart. Best of luck with your studies!!
Thank you for sharing! 😊
Thanks for watching! If you'd like us to make more videos on cultural history or the sociology of ghosts and ghost lore across cultures, let us know! 🍻 [Check below for corrections:] 1:35 The data for the BRS survey I am citing here was published in 2010, but it was actually collected in 2005.
A brief video on experimental anthropology please
Can you make tibetan mastiff history.
the voices in our heads looking for resolution.. guilt causes us to run where as shame listen.. saints listen
@EL_394
9 ай бұрын
settler peoples are haunted by guilt
The part about how society views ghost as translucent is NOT correct at all. There are many civilizations throughout the world that have reported encounters with ghost that are translucent, way before the cinematography devices were invented. For example, in the South Pacific islands of Palau, there have been many reports of ghosts, including translucent ones, way before cinematography technology were ever introduced. Plus, reports of sightings of Roman soldiers in Britain span for centuries, and some of those reports included translucent figures. And as for the banging and knocking on the walls and doors, this too has been reported for centuries. One of the oldest reports of ghosts was in Rome. A Roman historian referenced an old house that was haunted by a ghost of an old man who walked around covered with chains and making clinging noises. Knockings are also reported by Pacific islanders in some ghost encounters. Not to be rude, but if you stop basing your research on the assumption that ghosts are "not real", and instead perform REAL scientific research, then you would be coming up with real answers to how ghosts appear. You must agree that it is 1000% foolish to think that the millions of ghost sightings around the world and going back thousands of years, with similar experiences, are all just "delusions", "superstitions," or "misidentification". That is NOT very scientific to assume that.
Why don't you make an episode on langdarma( the bull king).being a honest researcher one have to dig the deep beyond myths,just collecting and presenting doesn't worthwhile.
@ArmchairAcademics
5 ай бұрын
Hey there, thanks for posting. Langdarma, Ralpachen, and the decline and fall of the Tibetan empire are going to be a significant part of the third episode of The Animated History of Tibet. That project is planned as a nine episode series that will exist parallel to our other content, a lot of which focuses on social science -- like this video here. Thanks for watching.
speak louder!