This highly original and engaging book by French historian Robert
Muchembled, is a journey through time and space in search of the
changing perception and significance of the devil in Western
culture.
The author takes the story back to the 13th century, when visual
images of Satan first started to appear, and forward to the 20th
Century, dealing with, among others, the place of the diabolical in
the films of Stanley Kubrick, including "Eyes Wide Shut," The
changing figures of Evil over time are shown to correlate with the
way in which men conceive of their destinies and the future of
their civilisation. Fascination with the diabolical having reached
its height in the witch-hunts of the 15th and 16th centuries, by
the enlightenment, begins to show signs of decline, a process which
has continued up to today. The result of this process, for modern
western society, is a subtle metamorphosis of the notion of the
devil from fear of Satan, into an internal demon, "the demon
within" characterised by a distrust of oneself and ones desires. It
is this conception of the diabolical that is visible today in our
interest in the supernatural, exorcism, and for example, in the
role of the "devlish good" in advertising.
A rich, vivid history of a topic that never ceases to
intrigue.
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