Modern enchantments : the cultural power of secular magic
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Modern enchantments : the cultural power of secular magic
Harvard University Press, 2002
Available at 3 libraries
Note
Includes index
LCCN:2001059411
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Modern Enchantments takes us deeply into the history and workings of modern secular magic, from the legerdemain of Isaac Fawkes in 1720, to the return of real magic in nineteenth-century spiritualism, to the role of magic in the emergence of the cinema. Through the course of this history, During shows how magic performances have drawn together heterogeneous audiences, contributed to the molding of cultural hierarchies, and extended cultural technologies and media at key moments, sometimes introducing spectators to rationality and helping to disseminate skepticism and publicize scientific innovation. In a more revealing argument still, Modern Enchantments shows that magic entertainments have increased the sway of fictions in our culture and helped define modern society's image of itself.
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