Transformations of the Supernatural : Problems of Representation in the Work of Daniel Defoe.

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Cover; Contents ; 1. Introduction ; 1.1 Transforming Supernaturalism ; 1.2 Contextualising Daniel Defoe's Work on the Supernatural ; 1.3 Jane Wenham: A Case in Point ; 1.4 Defoe's Supernatural Tracts ; 1.5 How to Qualify the "Supernatural" ; 1.6 Seeking Certainty of Self.

1.7 Chapter Overview Part I: Daniel Defoe's Supernaturalism Revisited: Judgment and the Burden of Proof ; 2. Daniel Defoe's Supernatural Tracts and Contemporary Supernaturalism: Problems of Language and Evidence ; 2.1 Introduction ; 2.2 The Idea of Being Able to Study the Supernatural ; 2.3 Analysing the Supernatural.

2.4 Disengagement from Demonological Debates 2.5 The Question of Evidence ; 2.6 Defoe's Treatment of Evidence of the Supernatural ; 2.7 Defoe's Lines of Argumentation in his Supernatural Tracts ; 2.8 Summary ; Part II: Transformations of the Supernatural: The Power of the Imagination.

3. Defoe's Play with the "As If": Fiction, Delusion and Imagination 3.1 Introduction ; 3.2 Disruptive Imagination ; 3.3 Imagination and Uncertainty ; 3.4 "Deluded" Imagination ; 3.5 Error or Delusion? Discrediting Testimonies ; 3.6 Delusion as a Motif.

4. Describing Emotional Conflict and Continuity of Experience in Defoe's Narratives Journal of the Plague Year, Robinson Crusoe and Roxana 4.1 Introduction ; 4.2 Transformations of the Prophetic Voice: The Case of Robinson Crusoe.

4.3 Transformations of the Magical: The Case of Fear in A Journal of the Plague Year.

Daniel Defoe's work displays a keen interest in stories of supernatural encounters. Once considering how one might prove supernatural occurrences and whether one can trust eyewitness accounts, Defoe demonstrates that more is at stake. Like his contemporaries, Defoe wonders about the range of scientific insight, and about the moral and epistemological ramifications of unchallenged trust and faith. His transformations of the supernatural probe the boundaries of knowledge and evidence and play with the limits of cognition, emphasizing the inseparability of mind and emotion.

In English.

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