This highly original and engaging book by French historian Robert Muchembled, is a journey through time and space in search of the changing perception and significance of the devil in Western culture.
A History of the Devil: From the Middle Ages to the Present
Description
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements. Introduction: A Thousand Years Of The Devil. 1. Satan Makes His Entry (Twelfth To Fifteenth Centuries):. Satan And The Myth Of Primordial Combat. Good And Bad Devils. Instilling Fear: The Diabolic Obsession At The End Of The Middle Ages. The Evil One And The Beast. 2. The Night Of The Sabbath:. Heresy. From Waldensians To Witches. A Hammer To Crush The Witches. Satanic Nudity. The Triumph Of Demon--Mania. The Mark Of The Devil. 3. The Devil In The Body:. The Magical Body. The Female Body. Monsters And Marvels. The Hell Of Sex. Towards A History Of The Senses: The Promotion Of Sight. Towards A History Of The Senses: The Demonising Of Smell. 4. Satanic Literature And Tragic Culture (1550--1650):. The Fear Of Oneself. Devil Books In Protestant Germany. The Tragic Culture In France. Rosset, The Devil And The Rotting Corpse. Jean--Pierre Camus, Or The Spectacle Of Horror. Bloody Tales: The Devil In The News. The Baroque And Transgression. 5. The Twilight Of The Devil, From Classicism To Romanticism:. Satan's Final Apotheosis. The Fragmented Images Of Evil. A Disenchanted Devil. The Symbolic Transition: From Satan To Mephistopheles. The Contribution Of Fiction. Beelzebub In Love. 6. The Demon Within (Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries):. Doctrinal Permanencies. Having Fun With The Devil: The Gothic Novel And The Frenetiques. The Rebel Angel Of The Satanists. The Children Of The Devil. The Diabolic Unconscious. Taming The Shadows. A Paper Devil?. 7. Pleasure Or Terror. The Devil At The End Of The Second Millennium:. The Devil, Probably Prudent Exorcism. "Devilish Good": Advertising, Beer And The Strip Cartoon. The Expressionist Devil: From The Golem To Dies Irae. The Film Noir: Horror, Suspense And Perversion. America's Demons. Conclusion. Dancing With The Devil. Select Bibliography. Select List Of Films
Author Description
Robert Muchembled is a professor of history at the University of Paris XIII.