[...]l 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

="large lg2" stl="font-size:111%"> 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


="large lg1" stl="font-size:145%"> 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)



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

(="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)


='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'>-->


="large lg3" stl="font-size:111%"> (="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 misogynistic

(during the witch craze) ='strcls'>**desire to believe ='lgc'>=/= simple belief='strcls'>**
despite the unbelievable scope of demonic power, the inquisitors must believe that what the young maiden is reporting is possible


="large lg4" stl="font-size:112%"> ='strcls'>****important changes in the legal ="trms">systems in europe well into the 14th century='lgc'>: proffering a formal indictment against another individual required the plaintiff to submit to an accusatory form of criminal procedure. (derived from Roman law) this procedure presumed such offenses as ='strcls'>*="trms">matters between the accused and accuser='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ='thdf'>the idea that “crime” was a ="trms">matter between ="trms">society and the accused did not exist (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the ="trms">presentday distinction between criminal and civil ="trms">complaints meaningless)
raising a formal ="trms">complaint required='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•the accuser to furnish proof of the allegation
="lsts lst1">•to submit to severe penalties agreed in advance if the judge was unconvinced of the ="trms">complaint's merit
='strcls'>*it was complex, expensive, and very risky to enter into this formal framework in order to address disputes or everyday injustices='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> most ordinary people did not do so, choosing instead to pursue local and less formal modes of redress

15th and 16th century ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> this procedure changed dramatically (with the emergence of the witch in europe)
="lsts lst1">•witch was understood as an ="trms">agent of satan
="lsts lst1">•="trms">responsibility of civil and ="trms">religious ="trms">authorities to protect pious christians (from a power that would overwhelm the faithful regardless of their individual acts, intentions, or beliefs)

inchoate suspicion (of the fearful, the resentful, the spiteful) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> reporting ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> inquisitors (="trms">positioned as experts) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> take this suspicion forward administratively ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*impersonal ="trms">sociological sense='strcls'>* (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- an ='thdf'>example of Weberian rationalization)

to suspect someone of maleficium was not new ='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (in witch accusations) ="trms">authorities were now eager to act on suspicions in dependently


="large lg5" stl="font-size:155%"> unresolved sexual desires ='lgc'>+ such passion would be redirected in pathological, ="trms">perverse manner ='lgc'>==="nms">Häxan='lgc'>='lgc'>==> witch accusations

the film emphasizes the crucial role sex played in discerning what constituted witch="trms">craft and its status as a knowable ="trms">category of (malefic) human practice


a great[...]