College of Human Sciences
Researching shamanism and altered states of consciousness in literature
Professor Alan Northover, of the College of Human Sciences, Department of Afrikaans and Theory of Literature, recently delivered his inaugural lecture, titled “Trance and transfiguration in rock art and literature”.
Professor Alan Northover
In his lecture, Northover explored depictions of altered states of consciousness in literature written in English. He used the ideas of the English writer and philosopher, Aldous Huxley, drawing on Huxley’s experience of taking psychoactive drugs, the work of the German ethnobotanist, Christian Rätsch, on psychoactive plants, and the work of the archaeologist, David Lewis-Williams, on aspects of some prehistoric rock art traditions within the framework of cognitive neuropsychology.
Northover focused on trance states experienced by shamans (individuals interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance) in ritual contexts, whether induced by the ingestion of psychoactive drugs or trance dances and compared them with trance states described in imaginative literature. He argued that “the function of mind-altering drugs is to facilitate a momentary escape from mundane reality, to act as a gateway to spiritually inspired revelations, to access suppressed emotions or to help critique the social order”.
Northover explored the possible function of trance states and the depiction of trance states in literature, asking whether they reinforce or challenge the established social order. His research investigates the significance of traces of shamanism and altered states of consciousness in literature, re-reading modernity plant studies and indigenous belief systems.
After his inauguration, Northover said he is honoured and pleased by his promotion to professorship. “It has been a long and difficult journey, and I am grateful to Unisa and to the many people who made it possible, especially my wife and parents. It is the realisation of a childhood dream. I am fully aware of the responsibilities to my community, my country and the world that the position requires of me”, he added.
Northover, who was born, raised and schooled in Pretoria, holds a BA (Education) degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, majoring in Education, English and History. After obtaining a distinction in English, he was awarded the Harold and Doris Tothill Scholarship for Academic Excellence in 1991.
Northover proceeded to complete an honours degree in English in 1991 and started a master’s degree in English in 1992, which military conscription forced him to suspend during 1993. He completed his master’s degree in his second year of teaching and graduated in 1995. The title of his master’s dissertation was “The concept of order in Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale”, pointing to his abiding interest in the intersection of philosophy and literature. In his dissertation, Northover explored the poetic uses to which Chaucer put The consolation of philosophy by the Roman philosopher and statesman, Ancius Boethius.
Northover is currently participating in an international research project based in Warsaw, Poland. The project is called “Space, power and culture”.
Click here to watch a recording of the lecture.
*By Tebogo Mahlaela, Communication and Marketing Specialist, College of Human Sciences
Publish date: 2023/05/02
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