P/P/272. Impacts of Mesmer’s and Emerson’s ideas on American culture

The paper examines the role of introducing Mesmer's theory of the power of "animal magnetism" (Mesmerism) to America in the 19th century discussing it in the context of Emerson’s ideology of self-reliance and addressing the psychological and philosophical issues of liberation, enslavement, individualism, etc. Cultural and social impacts of the mesmerist movement and Emerson’s ideas are analysed with reference to the literary works by Edgar A. Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, etc.