Autore
Purves, Maria

Titolo
"If It Hadn't Been for You Meddling Kids": the Explained Supernatural in an Irrational Age
Periodico
Textus
Anno: 2012 - Volume: 25 - Fascicolo: 3 - Pagina iniziale: 25 - Pagina finale: 36

This paper investigates some popular twentieth-century incarnationsof the 'explained supernatural' narrative which came to prominence inthe Gothic novels of the eighteenth century. Recent developments in therepresentation of well-known heroes of the debunking narrative - thekids in Scooby-Doo, Sherlock Holmes - have them battling the actualsupernatural, and behaving like superheroes. Referencing acceptedreadings of the explained supernatural as reflecting the shift in theeighteenth and nineteenth centuries from credulity to belief in scientificrationality, this paper suggests that the 'explained supernatural' alsorepresented a celebration of the power of the mind at a time whenmachinery was replacing the human body. Today (by contrast) computersare replacing the mind, and we are being reduced to an irrational stateby technology. Moreover science and technology have convinced us thatthe body is becoming invulnerable to ageing, illness and death. Linkingthis to the new physicality of characters such as Sherlock Holmes, thisessay argues that our complete faith in science and technology - andour infantilisation by the same - has made possible a new 'explainedsupernatural' narrative model in which characters who formerly used onlybrainwork now need superhuman physical strength to get things done,and the supernatural is no longer explained away, but privileged.



SICI: 1824-3967(2012)25:3<25:"IHBFY>2.0.ZU;2-D
Testo completo: http://www.mulino.it/download/article/10.7370/75483
Testo completo alternativo: http://www.mulino.it/doi/10.7370/75483

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