{"product_id":"realizing-the-witch-richard-baxstrom-9780823268245","title":"Realizing the Witch: Science, Cinema, and the Mastery of the Invisible","description":"\u003cp\u003eBenjamin Christensen's \u003ci\u003eHäxan\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003eThe Witch\u003c\/i\u003e, 1922) stands as a singular film within the history of cinema. Deftly weaving contemporary scientific analysis and powerfully staged historical scenes of satanic initiation, confession under torture, possession, and persecution, \u003ci\u003e Häxan\u003c\/i\u003e creatively blends spectacle and argument to provoke a humanist re-evaluation of witchcraft in European history as well as the contemporary treatment of female \"hysterics\" and the mentally ill. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn\u003ci\u003e Realizing the Witch\u003c\/i\u003e, Baxstrom and Meyers show how \u003ci\u003eHäxan\u003c\/i\u003e opens a window onto wider debates in the 1920s regarding the relationship of film to scientific evidence, the evolving study of religion from historical and anthropological perspectives, and the complex relations between popular culture, artistic expression, and concepts in medicine and psychology. \u003ci\u003eHäxan\u003c\/i\u003e is a film that travels along the winding path of art and science rather than between the narrow division of \"documentary\" and \"fiction.\" Baxstrom and Meyers reveal how Christensen's attempt to tame the irrationality of \"the witch\" risked validating the very \"nonsense\" that such an effort sought to master and dispel. \u003ci\u003eHäxan\u003c\/i\u003e is a notorious, genre-bending, excessive cinematic account of the witch in early modern Europe. \u003ci\u003eRealizing the Witch \u003c\/i\u003enot only illustrates the underrated importance of the film within the canons of classic cinema, it lays bare the relation of the invisible to that which we cannot prove but nevertheless \"know\" to be there.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Richard Baxstrom,Todd Meyers\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0823268241\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780823268245\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Fordham University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/02\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 296\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2016","brand":"Richard Baxstrom","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48438023553279,"sku":"9780823268245","price":95.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_9e6af112-f00e-4d3a-8c58-27b0fdd5e35e.jpg?v=1777168280","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/realizing-the-witch-richard-baxstrom-9780823268245","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}