Overview

In Diary of an Uncertain Psychic, artist-anthropologist Deena I. J. Newman explores the life and lessons of Elizabeth, a California psychic and radio talk show host. Following the thread of spontaneous inner images, she ties together personal stories and fieldwork experiences in Israel, Ethiopia and the United States. Through vivid graphic narrative, this detailed account tells a story about images through images. In Western culture, the phenomenon of spontaneous inner imagery is often considered unusual or abnormal. Newman challenges this perspective by suggesting that many people experience spontaneous visual, auditory, and kinesthetic imagery and contends that such imagery may be a potential key to understanding psychic and mental processes. She shows how these images may be interpreted differently across different cultures as spiritual messages, omens, sources of scientific and artistic inspiration, psychological insights, symptoms of mental illness, or simply nonsensical productions of the mind. In visualising these images on the page, this book invites readers to delve deeper into the complexities of inner imagery both within psychics and within themselves. Newman illustrates the film-like inner images commonly experienced yet frequently overlooked, revealing the uncertainty involved in translating between images and words. By analysing Elizabeth's and her own experiences, Newman underscores the challenges inherent in this translation process.

Full Product Details

9781487563288

Table of Contents

Reviews

“No other book provides such a detailed and aesthetically engaging history of an individual’s dance with psychic abilities. Deena Newman’s story combines science, the humanities, and the arts in new (and perhaps very old) ways. The graphic novel does more than engage readers of all ages; in this surprising book, psychic ability becomes knowable through the imagistic, the combination of everyday experience with aesthetics.” -- David Delgado Shorter, University of California, Los Angeles “Diary of an Uncertain Psychic lays the ground for critical reflections about spontaneous imagery within the bio-medical and psychiatric frame. Deena Newman’s graphic style and image-work feels intimate, like reading something from a personal diary a friend shares with you."" -- Samuele Collu, McGill University

Author Information

Deena I. J. Newman is an Alexander Technique teacher and anthropologist who has taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and received Fulbright and Wenner-Gren grants for her work in Ethiopia.

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