Transatlantic Spiritualism. and Nineteenth-Century American Literature

Transcription

1 Transatlantic Spiritualism and Nineteenth-Century American Literature

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3 Transatlantic Spiritualism and Nineteenth-Century American Literature Bridget Bennett

4 TRANSATLANTIC SPIRITUALISM AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE Copyright Bridget Bennett, Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN DOI / Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bennett, Bridget. Transatlantic spiritualism and nineteenth century American litera ture / Bridget Bennett. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Spiritualism in literature. 2. American literature 19th century History and criticism. 3. Spiritualism United States History 19th century. 4. Literature and spiritualism United States History 19th century. 5. Occultism in literature. I. Title. PS217.S65B dc A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Scribe, Inc. First edition: June ISBN (ebook)

5 For Ayesha and Iona

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7 C ONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction The Apparitional Past 1 Chapter 1 Crossing Over: The Spiritualist Atlantic 27 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Revolutionary Spirits: The Persistence of the Occult 55 Sacred Theatres: The Spiritist Performances of Shakerism in the 1830s and 1840s 83 Spirited Away: The Death of Little Eva and the Farewell Performances of Katie King 115 There Is No Death : Spiritualism and the Civil War 147 Conclusion The Afterlife of Spiritualism 177 Notes 185 Bibliography 225

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9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following presses for allowing me permission to republish early versions of this work: Cambridge University Press for Spirited Away: The Death of Little Eva and the Farewell Performances of Katie King, Journal of American Studies 40 (Spring 2006): 1 16; MIT Press for Sacred Theatres : Shakers, Spiritualists and Performing the Indian in the 1830s and 1840s, TDR: The Drama Review 49, no. 3 (Fall 2005; T187): ; Manchester University Press for Crossing Over : Spiritualism and the Atlantic Divide, in Special Relationships: Anglo-American Affinities and Antagonisms, , ed. Janet Beer and Bridget Bennett, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002). I would like to offer my deep gratitude to the Leverhulme Trust for a one year Fellowship that supported the early part of my research and allowed me to visit libraries in Britain and the United States, the Arts and Humanities Research Council for awarding me a Research Leave Award, the British Academy for its generous travel award, and the School of English at the University of Leeds for granting me study leave and a period of teaching remission, which greatly assisted me at a crucial time. Many, many, generous people have contributed toward the making of this book. They include friends, family, colleagues, students, conference and seminar organizers and attendees, librarians, and anonymous and known readers. I hope they will forgive me for not giving an exhaustive list of names, dates, and places. I have a longstanding suspicion of over-lengthy acknowledgments. I thank them all and think they know who they are. They should not doubt for a moment that I do. I would like to offer my very particular thanks to Janet Beer, Susan Castillo, Hermione Lee, and Helen Taylor for unstinting and much-appreciated support of various kinds over a long period. My immediate colleagues at Leeds Denis Flannery, Mick Gidley, Jay Prosser, Andrew Warnes, (and more recently) Hamilton

10 X A CKNOWLEDGMENTS Carroll have shown me the many different ways it is possible to be an Americanist: for this, and for much more, I am deeply grateful. Other colleagues, past and present, have read parts of my work and helped me sharpen my arguments and think differently about what I was doing: Elleke Boehmer, Kate Dossett, Robert Jones, Ed Larrissy, Sonny Kandola, and Gail Marshall have all challenged me in various ways as they have read and responded to parts of this book. Long may it continue. Sarah Meer offered useful scholarly advice at an important time. Julia Cohen, Katie Fahey, Erin Ivy, and Farideh Koohi-Kamali at Palgrave, as well as Dale Rohrbaugh at Scribe, have been all that an author could hope for, and for this I am very thankful. Once again Martin Hargreaves has stepped in and done a great indexing job. Many thanks are due to him. The memory of Dominic Montserrat, whose enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, so many subjects, including spiritualism, has enlightened and inspired many of us, must be acknowledged too. I wish he could read this, since we talked about it so much together. Duncan and Josephine Bennett have continued, as ever, to provide loving support and encouragement, for which I profoundly thank them both. Sanju Velani has long transformed every part of my life. Ayesha and Iona Bennett have continued, and extended, that transformation. They make it all worth while. Thank you, all three of you, for everything.