Síntomas de una época: Magnetismo, histeria y espiritismo en la Alemania romántica

Abstract

By centring on an analysis of three particularly significant cases, the article seeks to understand the historical meaning of the encounter in early 19th-century Europe between a medical theory —mesmerism—, a peculiar system of beliefs —spiritualism— and an already known disease, but which was to be seen from a new perspective: hysteria. Moreover, the disease and the medical theory are the elements that made this system of beliefs flourish and enabled it to take hold in the core of Western culture, affirming itself over other conceptions of the world and showing, with this, the insufficiencies of the latter.