[...] manipulating one thing (their ="trms">materials) in order that a viewer should see something else ='lgc'>~ ='strcls'>*to make something invisible visible='strcls'>* ='lgc'>[='lgc'><='lgc'>-- this is always ideological, and is very common in art='lgc'>]
(='at'>#testing) the objective knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge possessed by the uncanny (in witch's pathological ="trms">language of diabolic proofs) ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> witch must be experienced in her own milieu, a satanic biome, her state in ="trms">nature

="display:block;white-space:nowrap;margin-bottom:-1em;overflow:hidden;">...................................

="large lg2" stl="font-size:112%"> typical in 17th century='lgc'>: tacit ="trms">mutuality of word ='and'>& image
="prgrph">-artists habitually gave their paintings titles, mottoes, tags and quotations, and their works abound in ="trms">literary allusions
="prgrph">-explicit ="trms">interleaving of the ="trms">verbal and visual


cat feces and dove hearts boiled in the moonlight

stereotype of a debased and corrupted priest
object of the customer's ="trms">affections


Protestant discourse against the Catholic Church in the 16th century ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> artists of the period extended the ="trms">instrumentalization of slander through the production of proto-pornographic images of bishops, priests, and the pope engaged in myriad obs="trms">cene acts ='lgc'>--depicting='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the emotional states and desires of the clergy

magical salves (considered particularly powerful and troubling by demonologists)

="nms">Häxan self-="trms">positioning as a ="trms">scientific investigation ='lgc'>+ constantly pull back from the dramatic outcomes of what ="nms">Häxan depicts

="nms">Häxan's de="trms">monstration of the power of the witch ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">paranoid delusions of witch- crazed villagers


widely held set of beliefs regarding the “="trms">nature” or “essence” of women
Christina Larner's assertion that witch trials were gender-related (but not by de="trms">finition gender-="trms">specific)
='lgc'>--="ppl">Baxstrom='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*women often came under suspicion of being witches because they were understood to be particularly susceptible to lust, avarice, and jealousy by their very ="trms">nature ='lgc'>[='lgc'>~ 16th century='lgc'>: ='strcls'>**women “="trms">naturally” susceptible to witch="trms">craft='strcls'>*** ='lgc'>+ women were presumed to possess elements of the ="trms">nature more than men='lgc'>] ='lgc'>=/= Federici's understanding of witch-hunt as straight-forward instance of misogyny='strcls'>*
='lgc'>--Roper='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*one cannot approach witch="trms">craft or possession from a vantage point in the ="trms">present without granting some legitimate status to the ways in which the Devil and witches were not only asserted to be real but were experienced as such='strcls'>*


(debates over) politics and evil
satan's malefic ="trms">presence (in Dreyer's Leaves)
='strcls'>*a ="trms">density of parallelisms='strcls'>*
Dreyer figures Satan as a problem of the ="trms">present
“Bolsheviks violently engaged in revolutionary struggle='lgc'> = manifestation of a transcendental demonic power”

="trms">question of theodicy ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> God's seeming absence from the ="trms">world

sleep-walking ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> enticing a nude female ="trms">somnambu="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list out of her home into the forest, where she eventually kneels before a demon who embraces her

proving sexual ="trms">relations with the devil ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">="trms">empirical evidence for satan's existence

(="ppl">Benjamin > Christensen's art sets out) to conquer meaning


...so it is no stretch to sug="trms">gest that...

subject and subtext



dreamtime of the 16h century
dreamtime of the witch


="lsts lst1">•Durer, Baldung, Cranach, artists at the dawn of the Reformation sought to re="trms">present the void as a figure
="lsts lst1">•strategies by which Expressionist painting sought to externalize states of mind

(="ppl">Baxstrom ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">Meyers emphasizing) how ="nms">Häxan ='strcls'>*cor="trms">responds with a variety of traditions='strcls'>* without seeking to assimilate the film fully within one over another



stillness and fixity of tableau-like shot com="trms">position (Dreyer, Murnau, Christensen) ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> (the ="trms">affect of) suffocating organization

="ppl">Deleuze summary of Expressionism='lgc'>: play of light and darkness, with the mixture of the two producing an effect that sug="trms">gests either falling into the black hole or ascending towards the light ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ='strcls'>*face='strcls'>* makes this ="trms">affective power mobile

="lsts lst1">•(in Murnau) tableau ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> frees the viewer for introspection regarding ="trms">nature in a kind of emotional, spiritual release ='lgc'>=/= close-up (disruptive pathos)
="lsts lst1">•(in ="nms">Häxan) tableau ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> grounds the uncontrollable forces at work on the faces of those confronted by the power of the witch (constituting a shot that is intensive ='lgc'>=/= introspective)


="nms">Häxan film ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> progressive un="trms">folding of the ="trms">material ="trms">world through the style of a ="trms">lecture
="prgrph">-exploration of the ="trms">wonders and “errors” of the ="trms">past (with near-messianic belief in the perfectibility of man)
magnified form of rea="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list cinema ='lgc'>+ rooted in a ="trms">natura="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list impulse ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Christensen's witch is not only here now, it has always been here='lgc'>: “witch='lgc'> = a figure of ="trms">nature”
="prgrph">-="nms">Häxan begins with woodcuts, drawings, and paintings that o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">riginate from ='strcls'>*an act of touch='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> haptic vision ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> to ="trms">present ="trms">figurative cliched givens ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> establish the ground
="prgrph">-seizes (the audience) and is seized (by the witch)
="prgrph">-seeing and touching ='strcls'>*virtual beings='strcls'>* (such as devils)
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigorously logical structure ='lgc'>+ expressing the tangible singularity of the power of the witch

='strcls'>*(from) tales ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> theology ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> diagnosis='strcls'>*


“advancement” of ="trms">natural knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge ='lgc'>='lgc'><='lgc'>--> demonology


witch='lgc'>: a viral character


witch hunters's trial by water ='strcls'>*is not a “trial” but rather an experiment='strcls'>* (to identify evidence of evil's ="trms">presence='lgc'>='lgc'>---in the absence of direct unmotivated proof) ='lgc'>--operating='lgc'>='lgc'>--> though a form of non-knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- mastery of nonsense
= ='strcls'>***a deep appreciation of (that might seem misguided to us)='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•cause-and-effect ="trms">relations
="lsts lst1">•forces at work in the ="trms">natural ="trms">world
(='lgc'>=/= in="trms">difference to the truth, retreat into superstition)
='lgc'>~
='lgc'>[these='lgc'>] cases sug="trms">gestive of and ="trms">="trms">empirically linked to general laws. the case said something about the ="trms">world, and once a case was established, it would sp="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read like a contagion (='lgc'>=/= proof of misogy or genocide as Federici asserts)



="large lg3" stl="font-size:110%"> Flaherty ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> a certain truth regarding the total ="trms">social environment ='lgc'>: force of Nanook's life not only provides ="trms">="trms">empirical evidence as to his mode of living but also allows for a refl ection on “="trms">nature”, “humanness”, “="trms">modernity” rooted in the haptic qualities of Flaherty's images

maleficium (of the witch ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> palpable='lgc'>: destructive weather magic, assault of farm ="trms">animals, sickness, unexplained death, etc.)

saturn's mythological violence ='lgc'>='lgc'><='lgc'>--> satan
='thdf'>the idea that saturn serves as patron to ="trms">social outliers='lgc'>: the poor, elderly, disabled, criminals, jews, cannibals, magicians, witches

(early ="trms">modern period ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) ='strcls'>**satan='lgc'> = the principal ="trms">authority of the ="trms">natural ="trms">world='strcls'>**, “master of the knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge of ="trms">natural properties and the ="trms">techniques of their ="trms">instrumentalization” ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">techniques of the healer ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">="trms">empirical ="trms">instruments

="large lg4" stl="font-size:112%"> (="ppl">de Certeau observed that) every exercise of trained judgment is ="trms">authorized through the ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]dark='lgc'>: ratifying force of theology
='strcls'>**dark forces ='lgc'>--ratify='lgc'>='lgc'>--> all forms of ="trms">natural expertise='strcls'>**

mastery of nonsense ='lgc'>--driving='lgc'>='lgc'>--> confirming the suspicion of witch="trms">craft='lgc'> = a form of non-knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge ='lgc'>==opens='lgc'>='lgc'>==> a gap in knowing (="trms">specifically, ‘who’)


line of accusation that was quite common in the early ="trms">modern period ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> “the desperate search for the cause of what was other wise an unexplained illness or misfortune was frequently the catalyst for ="trms">specific witch="trms">craft accusations between friends, acquaintances, and often between family ="trms">members themselves”
16th century ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> this violence now bore the sanction of both secular and ="trms">religious institutions (='lgc'><='lgc'>== peasant ="trms">complaints of maleficium زيان ='lgc'><='lgc'>== human beings have been suffering misfortune, illness, and death long before the power of the witch was felt during this time)

Dominican order ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> aggressively promoting the cult of the virgin, to the status of the “perfect” woman ='lgc'>{elevating the status of sexual ="trms">neurosis to a virtue='lgc'>} ='lgc'>=/= lustful credulous ="trms">nature of common women (who were often as="trms">sociated with the temptations of Eve)

="large lg5" stl="font-size:116%">
='strcls'>*conflicted status of women='strcls'>*
="lsts lst1">•in ="nms">Häxan ='lgc'>--through='lgc'>='lgc'>--> sternly patrilineal visual motifs (condescension ='lgc'>+ bemusement ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> frail ='lgc'>+ hysterical)
="lsts lst1">•in ="nms">ajayeb ="trms">bestiary ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->


(="nms">Häxan's) witch hunters act in ="trms">accordance with their own procedures for investigating truth and falsehood and not simply out of malice, fear, or stupidity

the inquisitor priest/friar (within the realm of their own assumptions about the ="trms">world) were dedicated to investigating and verifying the claims ='lgc'>[of the accused witch) ='lgc'>=/= (mainstream depiction of inquisitors as) gullible, fanatical, overtly m[...]