JVF Conference Papers
Witchcraft has a long history, as does its interpretation. What is more, the two cannot be separated from one another, as the reading and understanding of an object of interest are always part of its constitution. The history of witchcraft in early modern times, upon which my paper will concentrate, is but one telling example. In the following pages I would like to problematize two issues which are always "at stake" in the reading/understanding of magic and witchcraft: the power of identification by naming and the opposition between the general and the particular; or, in different terms, the problem of popular culture and a focus on women’s relationship to the dominant order....
