Reports

In the mind's eye : thought-pictures and ethereal presences

Warner, Marina

"The fascination with dreams and states of inwardness in the Victorian era derived
part of its character from models of mind, descending from classical philosophy and from
seventeenth-century interpretations of the tradition, but these ideas are enmeshed with
theories of optics and the increasing potential vision of optical devices. So a double pulse
runs rhythmically through time: optics expand and channel vision, amplifying the mind’s
own processes; at the same time visionary ambitions make optics work to serve their needs,
which include the apprehension of spirits existing out of range of ordinary physical faculties."

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Academic Units
Italian Academy
Publisher
Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America, Columbia University
Series
Italian Academy Fellows' Seminar Working Papers
Published Here
March 31, 2011