Tripping on Mushrooms with Edward Said: The Case for Literary Studies as Holistic Medicine
South Atlantic Quarterly April 1, 2025 Ramzi Fawaz
The beneficial effects of psychedelic medicines such as LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA—including reduced anxiety and depression and feelings of interconnectedness—are linked to how individuals interpret their affective and visceral experiences during use. This special issue argues that the transformative potential of the current psychedelic renaissance lies in cultural analysis of these experiences. While cautioning against viewing psychedelics as cure-alls, the collected essays explore how psychedelic experience, as a lived and embodied event shaped by personal context, can cultivate cognitive skills and affective orientations needed to reframe responses to global crises like climate change and mental health. The term “imaginaries” captures the diverse perspectives on psychedelic experience beyond the laboratory.