Magic: A Very Short Introduction

ISBN-13: 9780199588022 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 152 str.

Owen Davies

Opis

Magic is a much-used term with a complex and controversial history. As a concept and a practice, it has attracted the attention of theologians, anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, artists, and historians over the centuries. This Very Short Introduction explains why. Magic has been defined in terms of the false religions of others, as an evolutionary stage in human thought, a universal state of mind, and a liberating expression of the imagination. For hundreds of millions of people today, no matter their religious persuasion, magic is a real force that helps them to overcome misfortune, poverty, and illness. Indeed, with magic as relevant today as it ever was, it raises questions about the meaning of human progress.

Recenzje

Davies explores an impressive range of topics including the basic terminology of magic, major theoretical approaches to the subject, the tradition of written magic, its use as a strategy for excluding others and defining ones own group, and the revival of magic in the context of contemporary paganism. ... The book is interspersed with a selection of photographs and illustrations, and it is well worth such a modest outlay.

O autorze

Owen Davies is Professor of Social History at the University of Hertfordshire. He has written extensively on the history of magic, witchcraft, and ghosts, including Grimoires: A History of Magic Books (OUP, 2009), The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts (Palgrave, 2007), and Paganism: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2011).