Invisible Hosts: Performing the Nineteenth-Century Spirit Medium's Autobiography — Spiritualism

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Invisible Hosts: Performing the Nineteenth-Century Spirit Medium's Autobiography

Name: Invisible Hosts: Performing the Nineteenth-Century Spirit Medium's Autobiography
Price: 99.00 USD
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ISBN: 9781438465999

✍️ Lowry, Elizabeth Schleber

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📚 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

Elizabeth Schleber Lowry's "Invisible Hosts" offers a compelling rhetorical analysis of 19th-century female spirit mediums' autobiographies. The book dissects how these women, often perceived as unconventional public figures, meticulously crafted their life narratives to establish credibility as both upstanding Victorian ladies and authentic psychics. It argues that Spiritualist tenets significantly influenced women's understanding of their bodies and civic roles, thereby laying crucial groundwork for social and political advancements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, revealing the intricate performance inherent in their self-representation.

Lowry, Elizabeth Schleber

📚 all books by this author (2) →

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Spiritualism

Praise for this book

“The volume draws its strength in part from the depth and historical specificity of its dive into four primary sources ... Invisible Hosts represents a solid new contribution to the field. Its overview of recent scholarship on Spiritualism will prove useful as an introduction, and its archival work will be of interest to scholars of religion and gender in the nineteenth-century United States.”

— Legacy

“Elizabeth Lowry's book, Invisible Hosts, is a refreshing change from a jargon-filled dissertation-turned-book. Not only does it have historical heft, but also it's an enjoyable read that offers both insightful analysis alongside an accessible introduction to spiritualism and the various scholarly lines of inquiry which situate it.”

— Reading Religion

“This brief study will benefit scholars of new religions, the history of feminism, and nineteenth-century American culture. It is a solid contribution to the growing body of scholarly work that is expanding our understanding of the significance of Spiritualism and its practitioners.”

— Nova Religio

🏛 State University of New York Press 📅 2017 📖 186 pages 📔 Hardcover ISBN: 9781438465999

Fun Fact

Lowry’s "Invisible Hosts" offers a meticulously researched and genuinely illuminating perspective on 19th-century American women's history and the often-overlooked influence of Spiritualism. Its rigorous rhetorical analysis provides fresh insights into how female mediums skillfully shaped public perception, making it an essential text for scholars of gender, religion, and social movements. Those expecting an anecdotal history of séance practices might be disappointed, but anyone seeking a profound understanding of women's agency, persuasive writing, and societal transformation will find it invaluable.

📝 Description: Invisible Hosts: Performing the Nineteenth-Century Spirit Medium's Autobiography

Provides a rhetorical analysis of female spirit medium's autobiographies in the historical and social contexts of Victorian era America. Finalist for the 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in the Religion category Invisible Hosts explores how the central tenets of Spiritualism influenced ways in which women conceived of their bodies and their civic responsibilities, arguing that Spiritualist ideologies helped to lay the foundation for the social and political advances made by women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As public figures, female spirit mediums of the Victorian era were often accused of unfeminine (and therefore transgressive) behavior. A rhetorical analysis of nineteenth-century spirit mediums' autobiographies reveals how these women convinced readers of their authenticity both as respectable women and as psychics. The author argues that these women's autobiographies reflect an attempt to emulate feminine virtues even as their interpretation and performance of these virtues helped to transform prevailing gender stereotypes. She demonstrates that the social performance central to the production of women's autobiography is uniquely complicated by Spiritualist ideology. Such complications reveal new information about how women represented themselves, gained agency, and renegotiated nineteenth-century gender roles.

📑 What's inside

Acknowledgments Introduction
1. Something in a Stranger's Experience: Evangelical and Spiritualist Women's Autobiography
2. Intoxicating Notoriety: Why Mediums Couldn't Quite Be "True" Women
3. The Great Master Medium: Spiritualism, Casuistry, and Christian Discourse
4. Home Sweet Home: Constructions of Domesticity, Embodiment, and the Public Sphere
5. Pure Intentions and Filthy Lucre: Relationality and the Rhetorical Implications of Endorsement and Patronage
6. Deep Trance: Corporeality, Dualism, and Submission
7. Indecorous Indecorum: Prophetic Women, Travel Writing, and the Politics of Virtue
Conclusion: Autobiographical Ends
Notes Bibliography Index

💎 Expert review

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💎

Esoterica Books editorial team

Occult literature desk

Lowry provides a dense, academic dissection of rhetorical performance in spiritualist autobiography, making it unsuitable for casual occult enthusiasts or those seeking practical mediumship instruction. The text is rigorous and theoretical, demanding patience from readers who prefer accessible prose over complex literary analysis. While valuable for its historical context, the focus on rhetorical strategy may alienate those looking for biographical warmth or supernatural validation. It is strictly for the academically minded, offering little entertainment value to the general public or devotees of New Age spirituality.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Scholars of gender studies, rhetorical analysis, and nineteenth-century religious history will find this text indispensable for its nuanced exploration of agency. Readers interested in the intersection of faith and feminism will appreciate how Lowry reveals the strategic self-presentation used by Victorian women to claim public space. By examining how mediums balanced respectability with psychic authority, the book offers profound insights into early social movements. It is essential for those seeking to understand the complex mechanisms behind spiritualist credibility and the subtle ways personal narrative facilitated broader political advancements during this transformative era.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —

⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.5/5

★★★★★

If you're fascinated by the social history of 19th-century America, the evolving role of women, or the persuasive power of personal narrative in spiritual movements, this work offers profound insights. Discover how belief systems can ignite societal transformation and reshape deeply ingrained…

Reader rating

4.5

Based on 1 reviews

Esoterica Books editorial team

Lowry provides a dense, academic dissection of rhetorical performance in spiritualist autobiography, making it unsuitable for casual occult enthusiasts or those seeking practical mediumship instruction. The text is rigorous and theoretical, demanding patience from readers who prefer accessible prose over complex literary analysis. While valuable for its historical context, the focus on rhetorical strategy may alienate those looking for biographical warmth or supernatural validation. It is strictly for the academically minded, offering little entertainment value to the general public or devotees of New Age spirituality.

❓ Frequently asked questions

While rooted in Spiritualism, the book transcends mere practice, offering a scholarly examination of how these spiritual beliefs empowered women to articulate new social identities and roles through their autobiographical writings, rather than detailing séance techniques.

Absolutely. While academically rigorous, it provides ample context for understanding the social and historical significance of the movement, focusing on its impact on women's autonomy and rhetorical strategies rather than complex doctrinal specifics.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Mediumship and Feminine Identity

This book explores how female spirit mediums navigated the rigid societal expectations of their era. Their public spiritual practices, often considered scandalous, paradoxically allowed them to subtly challenge and redefine traditional womanhood through their carefully constructed autobiographical narratives, forging new paths for female agency.

Rhetoric of Spiritual Authenticity

Lowry meticulously analyzes the sophisticated rhetorical strategies employed by mediums in their personal writings. She uncovers how these women convinced a skeptical public of their genuine spiritual gifts while simultaneously maintaining an image of Victorian respectability, a delicate balance in a restrictive social climate.

Foundations of Women's Rights

The text argues that Spiritualism provided a unique ideological framework for women to conceive of new civic responsibilities and assert bodily autonomy. This intellectual and spiritual movement inadvertently laid crucial groundwork for the burgeoning women's suffrage and broader social reform movements of the subsequent decades, empowering a generation.

📜 Historical context

Set against the backdrop of Victorian America, a time of profound social change and rigid gender expectations, this book situates Spiritualism as a vital, if often misunderstood, cultural force. It highlights how the public emergence of female mediums challenged established norms, providing an unexpected platform for women to assert their voices and contribute to the nascent women's rights discourse.

📚 Glossary

Spiritualism
Rhetorical Analysis
Transgressive Behavior

📔 Questions to reflect on

Consider how the personal narratives of public figures today might subtly challenge or reinforce prevailing social norms, much like the mediums' autobiographies did in their time.
In what ways do you see belief systems, even unconventional ones, providing a foundation for social and political activism in contemporary society, drawing parallels to 19th-century Spiritualism?
Reflect on instances where individuals, like the mediums, must navigate the delicate balance between appearing 'respectable' and pursuing a path deemed 'transgressive' by society. What are the costs and benefits?