Past, Present, and the Politics of Witch Hunts.
This article compares contemporary political rhetoric from and around Donald Trump with early modern discourse on witchcraft. Trump frequently and explicitly positions himself as the victim of political “witch hunts.” I will argue that he also deploys rhetoric that parallels early modern arguments c...
| Published in: | Renaissance & Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme Vol. 47; no. 4; pp. 143 - 169 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Iter Canada
Fall2024
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=185109465&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 185109465 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0034429X 2BC jtl: Renaissance & Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme issn: 0034429X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Fall2024 vid: 47 iid: 4 pid: 78725 pub: Iter Canada artinfo: ui: 185109465 10.33137/rr.v47i4.45376 ppf: 143 ppct: 26 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 10.8MB tig: atl: Past, Present, and the Politics of Witch Hunts. aug: au: MORRIS, KATHRYN affil: University of King’s College. su: Rhetoric & politics Witchcraft Witches Conspiracies Persecution sug: subj: Rhetoric & politics Witchcraft Witches Conspiracies Persecution ab: This article compares contemporary political rhetoric from and around Donald Trump with early modern discourse on witchcraft. Trump frequently and explicitly positions himself as the victim of political “witch hunts.” I will argue that he also deploys rhetoric that parallels early modern arguments connecting the persecution of witches with the exercise of sovereign authority, implicitly putting him in the position of the witch hunter. The article focuses on two Renaissance texts, Jean Bodin’s On the Demon-Mania of Witches (1580) and King James VI and I’s Daemonologie (1597), highlighting the ways in which both the contemporary and early modern discourses appeal to disruptive conspiracies, the threat of political and epistemic chaos, and the targeting of legitimate political authority. The language and logic of witchcraft, past and present, provides Trump and Trumpians with a powerful rhetorical resource. Cet article compare la rhétorique politique de Donald Trump et de son entourage avec les discours tenus autour de la sorcellerie dans les premiers temps modernes. Trump se présente fréquemment et explicitement comme la victime de « chasses aux sorcières » politiques. Je soutiens qu’il déploie en même temps une rhétorique rappelant les arguments des premiers temps modernes qui associaient la persécution des sorcières à l’exercice de l’autorité souveraine. Ce faisant, il se met implicitement dans la position d’un chasseur de sorcières. À partir de deux textes de la Renaissance, De la Démonomanie des sorciers (1580) de Jean Bodin et Daemonologie (1597) du roi Jacques VI et Ier, cet article montre en quoi tant les discours contemporains que ceux des premiers temps modernes font référence à des complots subversifs, à la menace d’un chaos politique et épistémique, et à la lutte contre l’autorité politique légitime. Le langage et la logique de la sorcellerie, dans le passé comme aujourd’hui, offrent à Trump et aux trumpistes une puissante ressource rhétorique. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Renaissance & Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme is the property of Iter Canada and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Renaissance & Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme holder: Iter Canada dt: @attributes: year: 2024 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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