JOURNAL ARTICLE

Houdini versus the Medium: Talking to the Dead and the Origin of American Literary Studies.

  • Published In: New Literary History, 2024, v. 55, n. 2. P. 293 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Barnes, Ashley C. 3 of 3

Abstract

This essay locates an origin story for American literary studies in the takedown of a 1920s Boston medium named Margery, first by Harry Houdini and then by a Harvard English instructor. Her twice-over debunking lets us see literary studies' professionalism as a takeover of two competing practices: mediums talking to the dead and magicians disproving such talk. Focusing on the New Critics, the essay argues that a literary scholar's professional autonomy depended on judging a text's aesthetic autonomy, namely its capacity to speak for the dead. This essay urges us to keep performing and teaching the value of that labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:New Literary History. 2024/04, Vol. 55, Issue 2, p293
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:History
  • Publication Date:2024
  • ISSN:0028-6087
  • DOI:10.1353/nlh.2024.a938862
  • Accession Number:180117424
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