'Ghosts from other planets': plurality of worlds, afterlife and satire in Emanuel Swedenborg's De Telluribus in mundo nostro solari (1758).

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  • Author(s): Roy-Di Piazza V;Roy-Di Piazza V
  • Source:
    Annals of science [Ann Sci] 2020 Oct; Vol. 77 (4), pp. 469-494. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Sep 20.
  • Publication Type:
    Biography; Historical Article; Journal Article
  • Language:
    English
  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Taylor & Francis Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0372361 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1464-505X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00033790 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Ann Sci
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: London : Taylor & Francis
    • Subject Terms:
      Books/*history ; Literature, Modern/*history ; Wit and Humor as Topic/*history; Communication ; Exobiology ; Germany ; History, 18th Century ; London ; Scandinavian and Nordic Countries ; Sweden
    • Subject Terms:
      Swedenborg E
    • Abstract:
      In 1758 in London, Swedish natural philosopher and mystic theologian Emanuel Swedenborg published De Telluribus in Mundo nostro Solari ( Earths in our solar system ), a treatise on the plurality of worlds and life on other planets. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these topics formed a heterogenous literary genre which encompassed theology, astronomy, philosophy and satire. In De Telluribus , Swedenborg made detailed claims of communication with extraterrestrial spirits in the afterlife, through which he sought to spread his theology to new audiences. The paper will explore the role of De Telluribus in Swedenborg's career, explain its content and analyse its polarized reception. It will show that De Telluribus combined for the first time the literary codes of two popular genres during the period, namely those concerning the plurality of worlds and the dialogues of the dead. By doing so, the paper revises current scholarly understanding of Swedenborg by showcasing him as a versatile yet ill-fated recombiner of literary genres. More broadly, the paper will shed light upon previously unnoticed eighteenth-century literary interactions along with a wider overview on the reception of themes such as the plurality of worlds, mysticism and satire in Scandinavia and Germany.
    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: Emanuel Swedenborg; dialogues of the dead; extra-terrestrial life; mysticism; plurality of worlds; satire; travel literature
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20200921 Date Completed: 20210617 Latest Revision: 20210617
    • Publication Date:
      20240513
    • Accession Number:
      10.1080/00033790.2020.1817557
    • Accession Number:
      32954943