Montaigne's stages and witches

Wygant, A. (2007) Montaigne's stages and witches. Forum for Modern Language Studies, 43(4), pp. 385-396. (doi: 10.1093/fmls/cqm061)

Abstract

Reading two of Montaigne's essays – I, 21: "De la force de l'imagination", and III, 11: "Des boyteux" – this study argues that it is no longer urgent to construct Montaigne as a liberal free-thinker on witchcraft. Instead, it appears that he was deeply rooted in the conceptual turbulences of his own time. This rootedness, nevertheless, escapes the local and comes to its readers as general and powerful. How this happens, a wonder of reception history, involves moving his local witches onto a stage with its own historicity, a stage of the imagination itself.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wygant, Dr Amy
• Authors: Wygant, A.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PQ Romance literatures; G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GR Folklore
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > French
• Journal Name: Forum for Modern Language Studies
• Journal Abbr.: FMLS
• ISSN: 0015-8518
• ISSN (Online): 1471-6860