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Disenchantment, reenchantment: Changing interpretations of visions and visionaries in early modern Sweden

I analyse the changing interpretations of visions and visionaries in Sweden between the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries, arguing that before 1700 they were primarily viewed in terms of a demonological discourse, although a more positive interest was also evident among the peasantry and some clergy. In the early eighteenth century, this changed and a medical discourse slowly but surely gained ground. Increasingly, visionaries were considered mad, not possessed. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, visions and visionaries were also historicised as expressions of an archaic, superstitious belief system, largely associated with the peasantry. I argue that these shifts in perspective had gender connotations, if interpreted in terms of control over experiences and narratives. However, such interpretations were not universal. In pietistic circles, visions were seen as more positive; they could be part of a spiritual awakening, and thus linked to religious subjectivity. Ultimately, visions were accepted as a natural part of popular revivalism’s spiritual repertoire. To some extent, this interpretation was a counterdiscourse – a way of protesting against the exercise of power implicit in the new forms of knowledge.

The changing interpretations of visions and visionaries can be seen as an expression of the disenchantment of society in the modern era, a consequence of the spread of rationality. Yet while there was every evidence of such changes, it was also plain that the enchanted world endured in the form of religious subjectivity.