RELG303

(Psychics, Spiritualists, and Mystics: Adventures in Edwardian Fiction.) Early 20th C. England saw an explosion of spiritual seekers who wrote stories about contacting the dead, communicating telepathically, levitating, reading Tarot cards, experiencing ghostly visions, and participating in occult or spiritual societies. While these writers were enormously popular in their own day, they are historically underrepresented in conventional narratives about the canon of modern British literature. This course aims to recover some of these long-forgotten stories, as we sort through this Edwardian-era "attic" of dust-covered tales, seeking the gems that still puzzle, challenge, or inspire. Our goal will be to understand this "spiritual renaissance" and its prime movers; explore the ambiguous borderland between the occult and the mystical and their relation to orthodox religion; and assess the legacy that this original "alt lit" has left for today’s spiritual seekers. Fiction will be drawn from writers like George MacDonald, Arthur Conan Doyle, Marie Corelli, Evelyn Underhill, and May Sinclair. Prerequisite: ENGL 210 or permission of the instructor.