Date of Award
11-18-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
History, MA
First Advisor
Joseph Key
Committee Members
Andrea Davis; Justin Castro
Call Number
LD 251 .A566t 2021 Y68
Abstract
The history of emotion has given a bit of attention to the role that fear plays as a historical motive. Yet, what fear is or how it may be used when examining primary sources which possess fictitious tales has sorely been neglected. In order to address this, this thesis argues that historians need to employ philosophical concepts of horror in order to truly grasp the unique qualities that emerge from these tales. This thesis provides a historical framework for these philosophical understandings of horror by examining the medieval and early modern mentalities which served as a framework for the formalization and mobilization of fictitious qualities which emerge in these historical tales of horror. Specifically, this thesis looks at the role that Christianity played in the construction of fictitious tales of fears during the medieval and early modern period by examining the Blood Libel accusations against Jews and the American colonies through the captivity narratives penned against Native Americans, within the modified context of Philosopher Eugine Thacker’s the “philosophy of horror”, which this thesis calls the “horror of history”.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Younger, William Cole, "The Horror of History: Medieval and Early Modern Christianity and the Use of Narratological Persecution" (2021). Student Theses and Dissertations. 283.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/283
