Instinct, knowledge and occult science on the early modern English stage Katherine Walker

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Walker, Katherine (Assistant professor), author.

Series:

Edinburgh critical studies in Renaissance culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600--History and criticism.

English drama.

Instinct.

Knowledge, Theory of, in literature.

English drama--History and criticism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh University Press, 2026.

Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press [2026]

Summary:

In Instinct, Knowledge and Occult Science on the Early Modern English Stage, Katherine Walker focuses on embodied experiences in the theater and the debates within the sciences that eventually fell out of favor but interlaced "gut feelings" with observational practice. She examines understudied occult sciences, looking to genres such as almanacs, witchcraft pamphlets and demonologies. As Walker argues, the early modern discourse of instinct registers shifting appraisals of the body's role in making new knowledge. Unlike reason, instinct allowed anyone--a witch, an animal or a queen--to interpret a complex, animate environment. This knowledge was not only a seductive idea, but also opened up a range of debates on the limits of human cognition, the rights of marginalised individuals to offer new understanding, and the contours of what we can know about the environment

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on July 21, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version :

ISBN:

9781399548144

139954814X

9781399548151

1399548158

OCLC:

1596676430

Publisher Number:

CIPO000393709

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license