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M.R. James and the archaeological uncanny

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Gabriel Moshenska
Gabriel Moshenska*
Affiliation:
UCL Institute of Archaeology, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK (Email: g.moshenska@ucl.ac.uk)
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Extract

Does the curiosity of an archaeologist lead to encounters with forbidden things, inviting retribution? The learned antiquary M.R. James, writer of celebrated ghost stories, certainly thought so. In this vivid analysis, our author unearths the roots of James' impetus and compares it with that of his contemporary, Sigmund Freud. Of course, those days of paranormal terror are long gone, we are all rational now … or are we?

Keywords

history of archaeologyantiquarianismM.R. JamesS. Freuduncanny
Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 86 , Issue 334 , December 2012 , pp. 1192 - 1201
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2012

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