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IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 835: Visions, Voices, and Other Hallucinatory Experiences in the Middle Ages, II: Medical and Legal Approaches

Tuesday 8 July 2014, 16.30-18.00

Sponsor:'Hearing the Voice' Project, Centre for Medical Humanities, Durham University
Organiser:Hilary Powell, Department of English Studies, Durham University
Moderator/Chair:Hilary Powell, Department of English Studies, Durham University
Paper 835-aMedical and Legal Explanations for Hallucination in Medieval England
(Language: English)
Wendy J. Turner, Department of English & Foreign Languages, Georgia Regents University
Index terms: Law, Medicine, Mentalities
Paper 835-bLawyers and Visions: 14th-Century French Legal Approaches to Visionary Experiences
(Language: English)
Aleksandra Pfau, Department of History, Hendrix College, Arkansas
Index terms: Law, Medicine
Paper 835-cHallucinatory Experiences as Sources of Insanity in Medieval Iceland
(Language: English)
Kirsi Kanerva, School of History, Culture & Arts Studies, University of Turku
Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Medicine, Mentalities
Abstract

This is the second of two sessions on visions, voices, and hallucinatory experience. This session focuses on medical and legal approaches to visionary experience. While the phenomenon was not initially pathologised, naturalistic explanations were increasingly sought as a means of discerning truly supernatural incursions into human life. This session explores the growing demand for methods of discerning spirits from legal, medical, and popular perspectives. Geographically broad, covering English, French, and Icelandic material, this session will offer an excellent opportunity to identify themes and draw out parallels regarding the way in which visionary experiences were viewed across Europe.