L'étude de cas uniques en anomalistique et le "poltergeist" d'Amnéville

La Société allemande pour l'anomalistique (Gesellschaft für Anomalistik) publie un nouvel ouvrage sur des études de cas uniques en anomalistique, coordonné par le sociologue et psychologue Gerhard Mayer (IGPP), qui est la reprise en anglais d'un ouvrage originellement publiées en allemand.

Gerhard Mayer & Michael Schetsche (2011). N gleich 1. Methodik und Methodologie anomalistischer Einzelfallstudien.

 

Présentation de l'ouvrage

Single case studies have a long tradition in the field of parapsychology and anomalistics research. Naturally, thorough case studies do not usually provide hard evidence for the existence of paranormal effects. However, they demonstrate the dynamics of occurrence of such extraordinary phenomena and experiences in the living world. This volume is intended to give an overview of the methodological peculiarities of anomalistic field research. On the basis of historical and current case studies, certain specific psychosocial dynamics and problems in this interesting and challenging field of research are presented and discussed.

This book contains 15 chapters written by different authors on the subject of single case studies. Although the focus is on poltergeist cases, other fields of anomalistics are also addressed, such as the UFO topic, cryptozoology, or allegedly photographic anomalies. 

Table des matièrse 

Mon chapitre sur le cas du "poltergeist" d'Amnéville

Il m'a proposé d'y joindre mon étude du cas du poltergeist d'Amnéville (été 2014) :

• Evrard, R. (2019). The "Amnéville RSPK case": An illustration of social elusiveness? In : G. Mayer (dir.), N equals 1. Single case studies in anomalistics (pp. 377-392). Berlin, Allemagne : Lit Verlag.

Je présenterai ce travail lors du congrès PA à de début juillet 2019 à Paris, comme je l'avais fait auparavant en Allemagne (WGFP) et pour l'Association des Amis de l'IMI (vidéo disponible pour les membres).

• Evrard, R. (2015, octobre). The "Amnéville’s RSPK case": An illustration of social elusivity? 31^e WGFP Workshop, Offenbourg.
• Evrard, R. (2018). Le cas du « poltergeist » d’Amnéville : une illustration de l’élusivité sociale ? Conférence organisée par l’A-IMI, Paris (14/12/18).

Abstract

During the summer 2014, at less than two kilometers from my house, started a seemingly RSPK case which attracted media attention in France and abroad. An old couple with a teenage nephew observed unexplained displacements and destructions of objects in several rooms of their house. Neighbors, policemen, and journalists quickly arrived and added their own testimonies which deepened the strangeness. In few months, the case was partly “solved”, not through a scientific enquiry, but by the self-accusation of the old “hysterical” woman and a trial that concluded a dismissal of all charges (“non-lieu”). Without having the possibility to interview the protagonists themselves, despite two attempts, I stayed as an observer of the social treatment of this paranormal story. I collected all press articles, video reports, online discussions, and also informal local discussions to document the various socio-psychological reactions at the different steps of the case. Following the Model of Pragmatic Information’s application to RSPK case (Lucadou & Zahradnik, 2004), I will illustrate the four phases of this case: surprise, displacement, decline, and suppression phases. This model allowed me to make public predictions which were verified. Then, I will focus on the “suppression phase” where there is a kind of social influence to restore normality instead of the disturbing paranormality. I suggest to call this action “social elusiveness” (Evrard, 2012) and to discuss its place in parapsychology.