Invention of Telepathy

This work explores one of the enduring concepts to emerge from the late-19th-century. Telepathy was coined by Frederic Myers in 1882. He defined it as "the communication of any kind from one mind to another, independently of the recognised channels of sense". By 1901 it had become a disputed phenomenon amongst physical scientists yet was the "royal road" to the unconscious mind. Telepathy was discussed by eminent men and women of the day, including Sigmund Freud, Thomas Huxley, Henry and William James, Mary Kingsley, Andrew Lang, Vernon Lee, W.T. Stead, and Oscar Wilde Did telepathy signal evolutionary advance or possible decline? Could it be a means of binding the Empire closer together, or was it used by natives to subvert imperial communications? Were women more sensitive than men, and if so why? Roger Luckhurst investigates these questions in an accessible study that mixes history of science with cultural history and literary analysis.

... crammed with interesting facts ... its interdisciplinarity renders The Invention of Telepathy such an impressive and valuable book ... [Luckhurst's] elegant readings of a number of literary texts - most notably his splendid explication of Bram Stoker's Dracula - prove him an adept literary critic as well as an astute cultural historian., What makes The Invention of Telepathy such a vital resource is its own ambitious border-work at the thresholds of cultural history, literary studies, philosophical enquiry, feminist investigation, and post-colonial interrogation. Luckhurst not only illuminates the aggregated knowledges of late Victorian and early modernist society, but also resonantly redraws our sense of the technologies and imperatives of contemporary culture., Luckhurst's book asks exactly the kinds of question that will generate exciting new debates and researches on 'marginal' sciences ... an important addition to a growing number of studies., ... a refreshing approach to the well-trodden history of early psychical research., ... a treasure trove of diverse material, presented with interdisciplinary ease.

Roger Luckhurst is Lecturer in English, Birkbeck College, University of London, and co-editor of Roger of The Fin-de-Siècle (OUP, 2000).