Spectral Evidence: The Ramona Case: Incest, Memory, and Truth on Trial in Napa Valley, by Moira Johnston [Book Review]
Violence Against Women, Vol. 6, No. 3, March 2000
9 Pages Posted: 3 Aug 2012
Date Written: March 1, 2000
Abstract
Adherents of theview that repressed memories are either nonexistent or generally false almost invariably begin and end their books and essays with references to the Salem witch trials. Spectral Evidence, by Moira Johnston, is no exception; indeed, references are liberally sprin kled throughout the text as well. Salem, of course, is the American icon for a period during which innocent persons were falsely accused of incredible deeds,accusations founded upon superstition and mass hys teria. Spectral evidence is a term for the types of evidence of diabolical possession introduced into evidence at the Salem witch trials in 1692.
Keywords: Ramona Case, Memory, trial, incest
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