<The> resonance of unseen things poetics, power, captivity, and UFOs in the American uncanny

The Resonance of Unseen Things offers an ethnographic meditation on the 2uncanny3 persistence and cultural freight of conspiracy theory. The project is a reading of conspiracy theory as an index of a certain strain of late 20th-century American despondency and malaise, especially as understood by people experiencing downward social mobility. Written by a cultural anthropologist with a literary background, this deeply interdisciplinary book focuses on the enduring American preoccupation with captivity in a rapidly transforming world. Captivity is a trope that appears in both ordinary and fantastic iterations here, and Susan Lepselter shows how multiple troubled histories{u2014}of race, class, gender, and power{u2014}become compressed into stories of uncanny memory. 2We really don{u2019}t have anything like this in terms of a focused, sympathetic, open-minded ethnographic study of UFO experiencers. . . . The author{u2019}s semiotic approach to the paranormal is immensely productive, positive, and, above all, resonant with what actually happens in history.3 {u2014}Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religion, Rice University 2Lepselter relates a weave of intimate alien sensibilities in out-off-the-way places which are surprisingly, profoundly, close to home. Readers can expect to share her experience of contact with complex logics of feeling, and to do so in a contemporary America they may have thought they understood.3 {u2014}Debbora Battaglia, Mount Holyoke College 2An original and beautifully written study of contemporary American cultural poetics. . . . The book convincingly brings into relief the anxieties of those at the margins of American economic and civic life, their perceptions of state power, and the narrative continuities that bond them to histories of violence and expansion in the American West.3 {u2014}Deirdre de la Cruz, University of Michigan 'the Resonance Of Unseen Things' Offers An Ethnographic Meditation On The “uncanny” Persistence And Cultural Freight Of Conspiracy Theory. The Project Is A Reading Of Conspiracy Theory As An Index Of A Certain Strain Of Late-20th Century American Despondency/malaise, Especially As Experienced By People Experiencing Downward Social Mobility. This Title Was Made Open Access By Libraries From Around The World Through Knowledge Unlatched. 'the Resonance Of Unseen Things: Power, Poetics, Captivity And Ufos In The American Uncanny' Offers An Ethnographic Meditation On The “uncanny” Persistence And Cultural Freight Of Conspiracy Theory. The Project Is A Reading Of Conspiracy Theory As An Index Of A Certain Strain Of Late-20th Century American Despondency/malaise, Especially As Experienced By People Experiencing Downward Social Mobility. Written By A Cultural Anthropologist With A Literary Background, This Is A Deeply Interdisciplinary Project That Focuses On The Enduring American Preoccupation With Captivity In A Rapidly Transforming World. Captivity Is A Trope That Appears In Both Ordinary And Fantastic Iterations Here, And This Book Shows How Multiple Troubled Histories—of Race, Class, Gender And Power—become Compressed Into Stories Of Uncanny Memory. Vulnerabilities -- Secret Immobilities And The Poetics Of The Uncanny -- Dreaming The Colonized World: The Resonance Of Captivity -- You Can't Repair History -- Here Comes A Change: At Home In The Weird -- It All Comes Together: Power, Containment, The Dream Of Escape -- One More Thing. Susan Lepselter. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

The Resonance of Unseen Things offers an ethnographic meditation on the "uncanny" persistence and cultural freight of conspiracy theory. The project is a reading of conspiracy theory as an index of a certain strain of late 20th-century American despondency and malaise, especially as understood by people experiencing downward social mobility. Written by a cultural anthropologist with a literary background, this deeply interdisciplinary book focuses on the enduring American preoccupation with captivity in a rapidly transforming world. Captivity is a trope that appears in both ordinary and fantastic iterations here, and Susan Lepselter shows how multiple troubled histories of race, class, gender, and power become compressed into stories of uncanny memory. We really don't have anything like this in terms of a focused, sympathetic, open-minded ethnographic study of UFO experiencers... The author's semiotic approach to the paranormal is immensely productive, positive, and, above all, resonant with what actually happens in history.

Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Acknowledgments 6 Contents 10 1 Vulnerabilities 12 2 Secret Immobilities and the Poetics of the Uncanny 31 3 Dreaming the Colonized World: The Resonance of Captivity 57 4 You Can’t Repair History 91 5 Here Comes a Change: At Home in the Weird 122 6 It All Comes Together: Power, Containment, the Dream of Escape 142 Coda: One More Thing 172 Notes 174 Bibliography 178 Index 184