As part of my PhD work, I wrote a 1980’s coming-of-age manuscript, Marvelous Monsters, which is set primarily in New York City. The text focuses on capitalistic ‘self-empowerment’ seminars, which have the characteristics of cults. Some use gimmicks such as firewalking, while others claim to be able to cure cancer with their emotional-release methods. I also explore meditation gurus who ask their followers to drink the water they’ve soaked their feet in, claiming they’ve made ‘holy water’ in the kitchen bowl. These bizarre scenarios have a dark side of manipulation, control, and abuse. In my critical work, I look to Robert Jay Lifton, the American psychiatrist, who studied thought reform in totalitarian governments and found connections between authoritarian regimes and cults. I draw on his theories of psychological manipulation to contextualize my memoir. This research into the relationship between cults and thought reform has current topical relevance as religious and political fanaticism is on the rise across the globe. I also look to the long-lasting trauma (complex-PTSD, clinical depression, anxiety disorders, etc) that can occur when people have grown up in a world of delusional thinking, and how critical thinking is what can free them.
Beesly: Aberystwyth University, Wales, 2018
Kelley McKenna 