Special Knowledge: Spiritualism, the Occult and Skeptics
From table tapping spiritualists to 1960's yogis and gurus, people in times of crises have turned to avenues outside traditional experience or reality to find meaning and seek understanding. This min-exhibit will explore three books from different eras and perhaps highlight connections between these seemingly different works that make claims to special knowledge, ancient wisdom and forgotten secrets. Each work makes claims to exclusive knowledge or truth.
Be Here Now - Ram Dass (1971)
Be Here Now by Ram Dass first published in 1971 when distrust of authority was at an all time high during the Vietnam war, Dass' espousal of Eastern spirituality hit a nerve and became a best seller.
Isis Unveiled by Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1877)
Isis Unveiled by H.P. Blavatsky - 1877
Blavatsky is credited with first introducing the spiritual concepts of karma and. reincarnation to the West. Dass lists this work as a recommended reading.
The Fashionable Science of Parlour Magic - J.H. Anderson (1855)
The Fashionable Science of Parlour Magic by J.H. Anderson. Scottish born magician J.H. Anderson was a popular stage performer in the nineteenth century. A skeptic, he delighted in exposing spiritualists as frauds. This work details and breaks down spiritulist tricks used to convince followers they could contact the dead and speak to spirits.
Book Advertisements
Overview of the History of Book Advertisements Book have been advertised since they came into existence (New York Times Arts Beat). Certain components of book promotion have remained remarkably constant, others have evolved as new technology emerged. Word of mouth, advertising campaigns, print advertisements, testimonials, publicity stunts, book reviews, book tours, lists that advertised a publisher’s works within a book, or lists of popular books, such as bestseller lists, book tie-ins with movies and other products, author websites, Pinterest boards, online book trailers and the author as a “brand” have all been employed to bring notice and generate sales for books. Recently, with the advent of the internet, authors, in order to remain current, have established an online presence. Authors often maintain websites to promote not only their work, but to connect with readers, and reinforce their image as a “brand”. Keeping in tune with a culture that is more and more visually oriented and pinched for time, online book trailers that advertise movies like films have also become popular. As the reading public moves increasingly towards eBooks and shopping online, mining “big data” and new software programs will no doubt impact publishing house’s marketing strategy in the future (Reid, 2012) Early Marketing Strategies: Example Tony Perrottet, discussing the history of “literary whoring” notes that Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 B.C.), “paid for his own book tour around the Aegean”. Nineteenth century authors Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde toured widely offering public readings of their works. Publicity stunts are not a modern invention by any means, as proven by Grimod de la Reyniere, who in 18th century France held dinner guests hostage overnight while he read from his latest work, prompting them to start a word of mouth campaign that declared him insane, resulting in impressive sales of his book Reflections on Pleasure. Perrottet recounts that Collette unsuccessfully attempted a cosmetics line tie- in, American poet Walt Whitman wrote his own glowing reviews, and 19th century French authors Guy de Maupassant and Maurice Barres advertised their books on hot air balloons and sandwich boards respectively Book Reviews as Advertisements The appearance of book reviews in trade publications and newspapers to promote and advertise books to readers has a long history. Gael points out that book reviews as we know them today, did not “spring into existence” but gradually emerged as a form that grew out of publication notices that appeared in periodicals in the seventeenth century. In “The Origins of the Book Review in England, 1663–1749” Gael writes, “As early as the 1660s, periodicals like the Intelligencer; Published For the Satisfaction and Information of the People contained material that aimed to inform the public of the existence and content of particular books”(p.63). Arianne Baggerman adds to this history when she writes in “Excitement and Sensation on a Postage Stamp. Dutch Book Advertisements as a Go-Between in the Eighteenth Century” that reviews and ads in newspapers served multiple functions as they were read not only by the public, but by book industry insiders, such as booksellers and publishers. She notes, “Since the first book advertisement appeared in a Dutch newspaper in 1624, newspapers had developed into the major source of information for potential book buyers and booksellers alike” (p.275). Monitoring the newspapers gave booksellers and publishers an opportunity to survey the trade and, “derive information about publications that might prove interesting to have in stock, and keep an eye on the activities of competitors as sources of both inspiration and instruction (p.276) Published since 1896, The New York Book Review is peppered with print advertisements. Ohmann observes that good or bad reviews can be used to promote books. Ads and reviews work together in the Times Book Review, “in such a way as to reinforce a good Times review or offset a bad one with favorable quotations from reviews in other periodicals. And of course reviews and ads were further reinforced by the Times best-seller list itself”(p.203). Ohmann asserts that this is not simply an impression, but can in fact be quantified, stating,“…one thing can be measured: the correlation between advertising in the Book Review and being reviewed there. A 1968 study concluded, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the largest advertisers got disproportionately large amounts of review space. Book List Book lists as advertisements (not to be confused with book catalogues) have a long history. Lidenbaum (2010) writes that in the late seventeenth century publishers included lists of works on related content within books themselves and that they “…could appear virtually anywhere in a volume: on the verso of the title-page, after the Dedicatory Epistle, or at various other points; in other words wherever there was space enough to include a little cheap advertising” (p.381). This is evidence of attempts to establish, “a more direct line of communication between publisher and reader” (p.382). In the modern era, the most prominent book list is the New York Times best-seller list. It, and the New York Book Review are particularly powerful interconnected book quality authorities. The relationship between them is so entangled and implicated in the promotion of books, it is difficult to discuss them separately. Nothing generates success like success, thus the New York Times best-seller list doesn’t merely reflect society’s tastes, but shapes them. Laura J. Miller writes that, “best-seller lists are powerful marketing tools that book professionals use to sell more books.” Peter Bowmen (2008), writing about the questionable methodology of the Times’ list notes that bonafide bestsellers such as Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides have been omitted from the list entirely. Skeptics abound as to the authenticity of the list. Bowmen quotes “book promotion guru” John Kremer who asserts that publishers and booksellers know how to play the game of the list stating “The New York Times bestseller list is essentially a work of fiction. As a result, it can be — and is — manipulated by those who know how the list is compiled. Publishers do it all the time.” (p.9).There is an incentive to make this list and the commercial benefits are clear. “Currently, once a book makes the Times list, the achievement is trumpeted in all further promotional material, the book is sought out by readers who habitually read best-sellers, and it is given special treatment by retailers” (Miller) 20th and 21st Century 20th century technology such as film, radio and television have also played a role in book promotion. Appearances on television and radio talk shows by authors supported traditional print advertising. Successful book series (The Hunger Games) are made into movies and then viewers become readers. Readers also become viewers when a book character takes on new life as a television character, as Kathy Reich’s Temperance Brennan on “Bones”. Oprah Winfrey devoted regular segments to the promotion of book club titles, radically improving sales. An appearance on NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terri Gross, Lawrence Douglass and Alexander George observed, can be even more meaningful if impossible to attain for some authors. In the 21st century, social media presence is crucial: websites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Pinterest pages, Instagram accounts, You Tube book trailers all play a role in reaching readers. On their favorite author’s site, fans can learn about their author, check tour schedules and author appearances, see an anticipated new book’s release date, look up series titles in order, read author blogs, or read up on the latest news related to the author or their work. On You Tube, writers are featured with a behind the scenes interview by publishing houses such as Simon and Schuster on the publisher’s channel. Books such as Veronica Roth’s “Insurgent” get cinematic treatments that sum up the plot and entice readers.
Print Ad AnalysisBy examining print advertisements from different eras, it is possible to illuminate the ways in which the ads reflect the book and author, the anticipated audience for the book, and the economics, culture and society in which they are produced. Roland Marchand writes,“Advertisements depict and describe the material artifacts available for purchase at a given time. They reveal the state of technology, the current styles in clothing, furniture, and other products, and sometimes the relative prices commanded by various goods. Whereas archaeologists must deduce the probable social uses of the artifacts they unearth, and then interpret from them the economic and social structures of the society, advertisements provide us with ample guidelines to the social functions (or at least the suggested uses) of various products. They can supply this information about a society without depicting either a person or a social setting, merely by displaying and describing the products themselves.” – Advertisements as Social Tableaux Tell My Horse : Voodoo Life in Haiti and Jamaica (1938) Zora Neale HurstonTell My Horse<span “font-family:”calibri=”” light”,sans-serif;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;=”” mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin”=””>, by African American author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, was published in 1938 by Lippincott. The result of field work funded by a Guggenheim fellowship she performed in the Caribbean, Tell My Horse is an unusual work. The title is the English translation of a common Haitian Creole saying, “Parlay cheval ou”. According to Hurston biographer Valerie Boyd, using this phrase enabled the speaker to assume the stance of Guede, a god who would possess a human like a rider mounts a horse. Guede could say anything, so by pretending to be him, the speaker was free to say anything to anyone (p.320). The subject matter of the book is, “…an ambitious, flawed mix of reportage, folklore, political commentary, and travelogue” (p.321). I found two advertisements for Hurston’s work with the American title. The ad feature the image of a solemn and serious looking Black man, looking down and holding a sword appeared in the Saturday Review of Literature along with a review on October 15, 1938. A British ad featuring this image appeared in the Sunday Times in London, on May 9, 1939 with the British title Voodoo Gods. The Saturday Review of Literature was first published in 1924. Aimed at middle-class readers, it featured articles on literature, reviews and literary criticism. It positioned itself as a tastemaker and authority on “important books”. The review of Hurston’s Tell My Horse is placed next to a feature of similar length on Ernest Hemingway’s The Fifth Column and the First Forty- Nine. Analysis The appearance of a review and ad in this location suggests that Hurston’s work was aimed at serious readers of literature. The tone however, is sensational. “Things No White Person Has Ever Seen” trumpets the header of the ad from the Saturday Review. Clearly, the readership is understood to be white and middle class. Hurston’s race is a selling point. Hurston is touted as a spokeswoman for her entire “race” with the line, “Her ability to express the thoughts and emotions of her own race make this book a classic. 24 photographs.” This is reductionist in multiple ways. The fact that Hurston is an American and not Haitian is irrelevant compared to her blackness, which overrides any class privilege her citizenship and educational background provides. All Africans and African Americans are presumed to have a group mind and emotional landscape, the same despite any regional or class differences. This singular experience is one that Hurston can voice, according to the text of the ad, literally. Race is the “ultimate trope of difference” (Higginbotham p.253). Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham wrote of this phenomenon in “The Metalanguage of Race” stating, “<span “font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:=”” “calibri=”” light”,sans-serif;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:=”” major-latin”=””>Race not only tends to subsume other sets of social relations, namely, gender and class, but it blurs and disguises, suppresses and negates its own complex interplay with the very social relations it envelops. It precludes unity within the same gender group but often appears to solidify people of opposing economic classes. Whether race is textually omitted or textually privileged, its totalizing effect in obscuring class and gender remains” (p. 255). The white reader’s power to gaze upon and consume the “Other” is emphasized. Hurston’s insider whistle blower role is underscored by the advertisement’s emphasis on her experience as an initiate of voodoo rites. White middle class readers are invited then to peek into hidden mysterious rites performed by “Others”. The experiences Hurston relates are described as incredible and unbelievable while the author’s authority is authenticated by the funds provided by the Guggenheim Fellowship that funded her research. Bizarrely, this title is listed as a “Book of the Month Club” book. Priced at $3.00, it costs twenty-five cents more than Hemingway’s Fifth Column. The second American ad for this title features similar language and imagery to the first. While the first ad in SR (as it was known) showed a Black man staring blankly like a zombie holding a sword, the second features a wide wild and wide eyed Black man staring at the viewer blankly. Hurston’s experience in Haiti is described as “amazing”. Again, the header, which use different font styles to effect, highlights the sensational, “VOODOO as No WHITE person ever saw it! The font used for the word voodoo evokes primitiveness. The line itself is reminiscent of a tabloid headline. One interesting difference between this ad and the first American ad in the SR is that a testimonial is included from William Seabrook. He says, “I must tell you how terrifically excited I am…” Seabrook wrote Jungle Ways (1930) among other books. He was a journalist, traveler, Occultist associated with the Lost Generation era and is noted for having claimed to have participated in cannibalism. This blurb pumps up the sensational rhetoric of the ad text and hypes the more sensational elements of the book. Boyd relates that Tell My Horse did not appeal to Depression era Americans, but sold so “briskly” in England that “the publisher earned back Hurston’s $500 advance after only a week (p.322).” The English ad also appeared in a highly reputable and influential venue. The