Stefan Andriopoulos's 'Ghostly Apparitions' Examines Spectral Media in Post-Enlightenment Thought
In his 2013 work, 'Ghostly Apparitions: German Idealism, the Gothic Novel, and Optical Media,' Stefan Andriopoulos explores the impact of spectral media on post-Enlightenment thought from 1750 to 1930, disputing the notion that modernity severed ties with supernatural beliefs. He references G.W.F. Hegel's 1805 lecture regarding phantasmagoric presentations and analyzes Kant's 1766 text 'Dreams of a Spirit-Seer.' The connection between German philosophy and gothic literature is examined, alongside the spiritualist origins of mesmerism and early television. Additionally, Andriopoulos uncovers neglected sections in Marx's work and critiques Jacques Derrida's 'Spectres of Marx.' Critics have pointed out the book's episodic format and its insufficient focus on audiences as spectral entities. It was reviewed in the December 2013 issue of ArtReview.
Key facts
- Stefan Andriopoulos published 'Ghostly Apparitions: German Idealism, the Gothic Novel, and Optical Media' in 2013
- The book examines spectral media's influence on post-Enlightenment thought from roughly 1750 to 1930
- G.W.F. Hegel's 1805 lecture contained descriptions of phantasmagorical presentations with bloody heads and white forms
- Immanuel Kant wrote 'Dreams of a Spirit-Seer' in 1766 about ghostly clairvoyance
- Arthur Schopenhauer described consciousness as a 'presentation machine in the human brain box' similar to telegraph technology
- The book discusses connections between gothic fiction and Robertson's phantasmagoria in Paris
- Final chapter explores television's invention and its roots in spiritualist seeing-at-a-distance
- The work claims kinship with Jonathan Crary's 'Techniques of the Observer' (1992) and critiques Jacques Derrida's 'Spectres of Marx' (1994)
Entities
Artists
- Stefan Andriopoulos
- G.W.F. Hegel
- Thomas De Quincey
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Immanuel Kant
- Karl Marx
- Arthur Schopenhauer
- Joseph Addison
- Ann Radcliffe
- Jonathan Crary
- Jacques Derrida
- Marina Warner
Institutions
- ArtReview
Locations
- Paris
- France