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      • A Stellar Key to The Summerland

      Olivia Plender

      A Stellar Key to The Summerland

      112 pages | Black & white | 175 x 125 mm, Colour soft cover | 2007 | Edition of 1,500 copies
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Started in 1848, and presented as a scientific and rational response to the demands of the industrial world, the Modern Spiritualist Movement – still practiced today – was a heady mixture of evangelical and non-conformist religion, political agitation and popular entertainment. Whilst its adherents included mystics and magicians, its base was in working class communities, and it was intrinsically linked to political campaigns, particularly the anti-slavery movement, working class protests and the campaign for women’s suffrage. Assuming the role of the medium, women found a unique opportunity to give political speeches – in the guise of channeling a spirit – without transgressing social boundaries.

Mimicking the techniques of political and scientific pamphlets from the nineteenth century and combining Spiritualist ephemera with interviews, Olivia Plender’s graphic novel explores the hidden history of this movement.

A Stellar Key to the Summerland is published as part of Singular Sociology, a project curated for Book Works by Nav Haq.


1848年に始まった、霊の存在とその人間への働きかけを認める思想「近代スピリチュアリズム」は様々な思想や趣向が混在する場となっていた。神秘主義者やマジシャンがその門下にいる一方、その土台となっていたのは労働階級や政治、そして女性の選挙権に対する抗議運動だった。スピリチュアリズムがメディアとしての役割を担っており、精神のチャネリングに扮する事で、社会的な境界線を超えることなく政治的発言をするユニークな機会を発見したのだ。
Olivia Plenderによる本書は、スピリチュアリストたちの擬態した政治運動のパンフレットやエフェメラ、インタビューを通じて、この動向の隠された歴史を明らかにしている。
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