Self-destructive desires and the supernatural in early modern Britain

在1563年和1735年的巫术法规框架下，本研究将考察近代早期英国超自然经历与自杀和自残冲动表达之间的联系。在这种情况下，超自然指的是信仰文化中不日常或“平常”的方面，包括女巫、鬼魂、恶魔和仙女等生物的痛苦。从超自然的角度审视自杀和自残，为这些主题的历史提供了重要的新视角，挑战了早期的研究，这些研究含蓄地传达了自杀冲动最终导致自杀的确定性观点。在这些故事中，一个经历过自杀和自残冲动的人被认为活了下来，并且在许多情况下康复了，这让我们对文化态度进行了批判性的重新评估。我的项目将研究早期现代个体表达、理解和参与自杀和自残情感的文化机制。在这个过程中，它寻求对更广泛的自杀和心理健康的历史做出重大贡献，这些主题与现代社会仍然相关。

This study will examine the connections between supernatural experiences and expressions of suicidaland self-harming urges in early modern Britain, framed for these purposes by the witchcraft statutes of1563 and 1735. In this context, the supernatural refers to aspects of faith culture which are not everydayor 'usual', encompassing affliction by such beings as witches, ghosts, demons, and fairies. Examiningsuicide and self-harm through the lens of the supernatural offers important new perspectives on thehistory of these topics, challenging earlier studies which implicitly convey the deterministic view thatsuicidal urges lead ultimately to suicide. Narratives in which an individual experiencing suicidal and self-harming urges is seen to survive, and in many cases recover, allow a critical re-evaluation of culturalattitudes. My project will investigate the cultural mechanisms through which early modern individualscould express, understand, and engage with feelings of suicide and self-harm. In the process, it seeks tomake a significant contribution to histories of suicide and mental health more broadly, themes ofcontinuing relevance to modern society.