De surcroît, à travers l’analyse de l’œuvre d’Hugo Münsterberg, l’article vise à explorer les liens entre la première théorie du cinéma et les études psychologiques concernant les illusions des séances spiritistes. A partir du cadre théorique de la théorie du dispositif, l’article illustre comment le cinéma des premiers temps a renouvelé et réinterprété cette tradition des exposés. ![]() Ces derniers étaient d’impressionnants spectacles créées par des magiciens au XIX siècle et au début du XX siècle, afin de dévoiler les trucages employés dans les séances de spiritisme. ![]() Résumé Cet article examine les relations entre le cinéma des premiers temps et la tradition des dévoilements spiritistes. In the conclusion, the article proposes to employ the concept of “cinema of exposure” in order to address how early cinema invited spectators to acknowledge their own perceptual delusion. Focusing in particular on Hugo Münsterberg’s work, moreover, it addresses the connections between early film theory and psychological studies that debunked the illusions performed in spiritualist séances and stage magic. Drawing on the theoretical framework of the dispositive, this article shows how early cinema renewed and reinterpreted the tradition of the exposés. The latter were spectacular shows performed by stage magicians in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, which aimed to debunk the tricks employed by spiritualist mediums in their séances. This article addresses the relationship between early cinema and the tradition of spiritualist exposés. Thus, by sketching a history of superimposition effects in photography, stage magic, magic lantern, and cinema, this article claims that visual representations of ghosts in the nineteenth century constantly wavered between religion and spectacle, fiction and realism, and still and moving pictures. Thirdly, a documented case in which spirit photographs were presented to a paying public in the vein of magic lantern entertainments demonstrates that the spiritualist visual culture intersected the nineteenth-century tradition of the projected image, too. Secondly, the popularization of exposures of spirit photography operated by numerous stage magicians in the late nineteenth century can contribute towards explaining the insertion of multiple-exposure techniques in the technical expertise of early filmmakers. Firstly, the commercial use of spirit photographs within the spiritualist movement suggests that the circulation of these images was not exclusively informed by matters of belief. This article calls for a more solid insertion of spiritualism’s visual culture into the pre-history of film practice, giving three main cases in support of the relationship between spirit photography and early cinema. However, arguing for a relationship of direct filiation between spirit photography and the tricks employed in film remains problematic, especially given that spirit pictures were entangled with matters of religious belief. ![]() As several scholars have noted, the use of superimposition effects in cinema to conjure such apparitions as ghosts, fairies, devils, and other fantastic creatures finds a significant precedent in spirit photography, a spiritualist practice by which the image of one or more spirits was ‘magically’ captured on a photographic plate.
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