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The (Absent) Body in Research on Paranormal Phenomena

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Making Sense of the Paranormal

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Abstract

In this chapter, we reflect on the relative absence of academic study about the body in paranormal research and outline an argument for its significance in understanding how people make sense of unexplained events. To illustrate this, we draw upon three areas of research: Ian Stevenson’s pioneering research on reincarnation; experimental studies using the ganzfeld experiment and accounts of intersubjectivity and telepathy in psychotherapy. We use these studies to demonstrate the significance of the body to the study of paranormal experience; however, we also illustrate the absence of research which explores the interactional practices that underpin these embodied accounts. In the final section of this chapter, our interest in the embodied interactional practices of paranormal investigation groups is detailed, and empirical evidence is presented to illustrate how the body is used as a site for, and tool in, the interpretation of paranormal events on a moment-by-moment basis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Creative and Cultural Business, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK

    Rachael Ironside

  2. Department of Sociology, University of York, York, UK

    Robin Wooffitt

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  1. Rachael Ironside
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  2. Robin Wooffitt
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Correspondence to Rachael Ironside .

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Ironside, R., Wooffitt, R. (2021). The (Absent) Body in Research on Paranormal Phenomena. In: Making Sense of the Paranormal . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88407-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88407-9_2

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