API tools faq
paste
jonstond2

Magic (Anthropology)

jonstond2
Jun 8th, 2016
270
0
Never
Add comment
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 58.63 KB | None | 0 0
raw download clone embed print report
  1. Introduction
  2.  
  3. Theories of magic began with the mid-19th century origins of anthropology. Despite periodic attempts to dissolve the concept of magic or fold it within broader considerations of religion, magic as a term or category resurfaces in anthropology with remarkable persistence. In general, the term refers to beliefs and behaviors in which the relationship between an act and its effect is not empirically or scientifically verified but, from a Western perspective, rests on analogy or a mystical connection. Most frequently, theorists have applied the term to non-Western peoples or cultural “others.” Early anthropologists and sociologists postulated magic as an evolutionary stage, contrastable with religion, or as evidence of primitive as opposed to rational thinking. With the dawn of the ethnographic method, functionalist and psychological interpretations emphasized magic as a way of fulfilling emotional and social needs. Understandings of magic varied little for much of the 20th century, with countless scholarly works repeatedly resuscitating a small number of key theorists. During the last quarter of the 20th century, new ethnographic research and theoretical assessments led to a revival of interest in magic, with the familiar term applied in new ways and in new contexts, especially emphasizing magic in connection to modernity and the power of the state.
  4.  
  5. General Overviews
  6.  
  7. General overviews of magic often trace the concept throughout anthropology’s history and note its connections to broader intellectual debates. Assessments of theoretical and ethnographic works on magic are often entwined with examinations of religion at large, as in Bennett 1996, Evans-Pritchard 1965, and Klass 1995. Brown 1997 and Styers 2004 take up the problematic nature of the magic concept, attempting to account for its persistence. Cunningham 1999 and Jarvie and Agassi 1970 examine magic as it has been contrasted with religion and science by anthropologists. Cunningham 1999 and Wax and Wax 1963 provide chronological overviews of how the concept has been used. Winkelman 1982 takes the unusual position of suggesting that magic is possibly not based on mistaken understandings of cause and effect, but on the psi effect. Winkelman’s work is noteworthy for its intellectual framework and the nineteen commentators whose replies are published alongside.
  8.  
  9. Bennett, Clinton. 1996. In search of the sacred: Anthropology and the study of religions. London: Cassell.
  10. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  11. An intellectual history of the study of religion in anthropology and the field of religion, identifying linkages and divergences. Sharpest attention to magic is on pp. 37–41. Includes key authors relevant to magic beginning with Edward Tylor and James Frazer during the late 19th century.
  12. Find this resource:
  13. Brown, Michael F. 1997. Thinking about magic. In Anthropology of religion: A handbook. Edited by Stephen D. Glazier, 121–136. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
  14. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  15. Extremely useful overview of anthropological strategies for understanding magic, with attention to questions about the term’s utility. Traces authors from Tylor and Frazer up through the 1980s rationality debate. Integrates examples from fieldwork with the Aguaruna of Peru.
  16. Find this resource:
  17. Cunningham, Graham. 1999. Religion and magic: Approaches and theories. New York: New York Univ. Press.
  18. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  19. A chronological survey of the literature on magic, with brief discussions of key authors between approximately 1870 and 1970. Organized into chapters devoted to different intellectual approaches. Much of the book focuses on the enduring conversation about the relationship between definitions of magic and religion. This is a thorough, succinct, and readable secondary source.
  20. Find this resource:
  21. Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1965. Theories of primitive religion. Oxford: Clarendon.
  22. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  23. A survey of approaches to the anthropology of religion, with attention to magic in chapters on psychological and sociological theories. A classic text by a key author. Advocates a holistic approach to magic as part of broader social systems, and looks at 19th-century authors seldom mentioned in more recent overviews. Originally delivered as lectures in 1962.
  24. Find this resource:
  25. Jarvie, I. C., and Joseph Agassi. 1970. The problem of the rationality of magic. In Rationality. Edited by Bryan R. Wilson, 172–193. Oxford: Blackwell.
  26. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  27. Compares theories of magic within a larger concern for rationality. Asserts that the issue of rationality lies at the heart of anthropological distinctions among magic, religion, and science. Emphasizes three influential anthropologists: Frazer, Evans-Pritchard, and Beattie. Lucid and readable work from a series on key concepts in social sciences.
  28. Find this resource:
  29. Klass, Morton. 1995. Ordered universes: Approaches to the anthropology of religion. Boulder, CO: Westview.
  30. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  31. Monograph surveying the anthropological study of religion, with attention to magic throughout. Criticizes much analytical vocabulary, especially the concept of magic, as based on Klass’s own assumptions
  32. Find this resource:
  33. Styers, Randall. 2004. Making magic: Religion, magic, and science in the modern world. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
  34. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  35. This theoretical work attempts to account for the persistence of the concept of magic in anthropology despite significant, long-running criticism. Suggests that magic appears to offer a form of deviance or alterity, and is useful in identifying the boundary between magic and science.
  36. Find this resource:
  37. Wax, Murray, and Rosalie Wax. 1963. The notion of magic. Current Anthropology 4.5: 495–518.
  38. DOI: 10.1086/200420Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  39. Survey of literature distinguishing major perspectives on magic within anthropology and sociology; a state-of-the-art review at the time of its publication that is still useful for its lucid treatment of key authors. Authors note a persistent negative comparison of magic to Western religion and science.
  40. Find this resource:
  41. Winkelman, Michael. 1982. Magic: A theoretical reassessment. Current Anthropology 23.1: 37–66.
  42. DOI: 10.1086/202778Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  43. Unusual work calling for a consideration of evidence that magic is not based on analogy or mystical understandings of cause and effect, but on the psi principle that potentially could be verified through experimental parapsychology. Includes replies from nineteen commentators, many of whom praise the article for raising a subject generally submerged within the culturally relative position of ethnography.
  44. Find this resource:
  45. Reference Works
  46.  
  47. Standard reference works in the fields of anthropology, folklore studies, and religious studies provide concise intellectual overviews of magic. Most introduce influential figures, beginning with James Gordon Frazer and Edward Tylor in the mid-19th century, and include some ethnographic discussion of beliefs and practices. The most up-to-date are Niehaus 2010 and Stevens 2006; Stevens 1996 is similar. All three are superb points of entry for readers wanting to learn about this area of study. O’Connor 1997 includes works and concepts relevant to the perspective of folklore studies. Middleton 2005 and Hill 2005 were both originally published in 1987, and thus lack the most current literature. However, both stand out for their attention to the complexity of intellectual history and theoretical debates. Middleton 2005 surveys theories of magic since the 19th century, mostly by anthropologists. Hill 2005 describes important ethnographic examples of magic.
  48.  
  49. Hill, Donald R. 2005. Magic: Magic in indigenous societies. In Encyclopedia of religion. 2d ed. Edited by Lindsay Jones, 5569–5572. Detroit: Macmillan Reference.
  50. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  51. General description of magic as practice and belief, as the term has commonly been used by anthropologists studying small-scale societies. Distinguishes magic from related concepts of witchcraft, sorcery, and divination. Emphasizes key authors. Good starting point for students. First edition published in 1987.
  52. Find this resource:
  53. Middleton, John. 2005. Magic: Theories of magic. In Encyclopedia of religion. 2d ed. Edited by Lindsay Jones, 5562–5569. Detroit: Macmillan Reference.
  54. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  55. Cogent overview of key works and schools of thought from the time of Tylor and Frazer through the 1970s. Superb starting point for students, written by an anthropologist. First edition published in 1987.
  56. Find this resource:
  57. Niehaus, Isak. 2010. Magic. In The Routledge encyclopedia of social and cultural anthropology. 2d ed. Edited by Alan Barnard and Jonathan Spencer, 433–436. London: Routledge.
  58. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  59. Concise encyclopedia entry covering standard intellectual history of the magic concept back to Tylor, Frazer, and Durkheim. Emphasizes role of fieldwork in the development of Malinowski’s influential thinking, discusses anthropological works on magic in the contemporary United States, and looks at recent works connecting magic to modernity and postmodernism.
  60. Find this resource:
  61. O’Connor, Kathleen Malone. 1997. Magic. In Folklore: An encyclopedia of beliefs, customs, tales, music, and art. Edited by Thomas A. Green, 519–528. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
  62. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  63. Starts with a Frazerian foundation, emphasizing sympathetic magic, but, in line with contemporary scholarship, questions the usefulness of magic as a meaningful category. Provides a descriptive overview of beliefs and practices generally considered magic. Because the work is intended for readers in folklore studies, it includes attention to superstition (oral lore and magical beliefs about cause and effect).
  64. Find this resource:
  65. Stevens, Phillips Jr. 1996. Magic. In Encyclopedia of cultural anthropology. Edited by David Levinson and Melvin Ember, 721–726. New York: Henry Holt.
  66. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  67. Similar in scope to Stevens 2006, but with more emphasis on intellectual history, including attention to new theoretical considerations of post-1960 magic. Good starting point for understanding history of the concept of magic in anthropology.
  68. Find this resource:
  69. Stevens, Phillips, Jr. 2006. Magic. In Encyclopedia of anthropology. Vol. 4. Edited by H. James Birx, 1512–1518. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
  70. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  71. Reader-friendly encyclopedia entry that makes an excellent starting point. Covers the history of the idea of magic in anthropology, as well as basic themes in magical beliefs and practices worldwide, and explains magic in relation to other concepts, such as taboo and divination. An in-text box, by a separate author, explains the difference between magic and religion as the terms have commonly been used.
  72. Find this resource:
  73. Textbooks
  74.  
  75. No contemporary textbooks are devoted purely to the concept of magic as used by anthropologists. However, textbooks intended for teaching anthropological approaches to religion to university students do incorporate content on magic. Morris 1987 is strong as an intellectual history, and is often cited as a scholarly source in its own right, in addition to being used for education. Stein and Stein 2010 is an accessible introduction for students. Moro and Myers 2010 and Scupin 2007 are anthologies of articles intended for the classroom, and they include some articles on magic.
  76.  
  77. Moro, Pamela, and James E. Myers, eds. 2010. Magic, witchcraft, and religion: A reader in the anthropology of religion. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  78. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  79. Collection of articles intended for students, with ten chapters devoted to different aspects of the field. Includes a set of articles on magic, with classic and contemporary works preceded by context-setting introductions.
  80. Find this resource:
  81. Morris, Brian. 1987. Anthropological studies of religion: An introductory text. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  82. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  83. Includes insightful discussion of concept of magic as developed by foundational authors in late-19th- and early-20th-century anthropology and sociology, emphasizing the intellectualist/symbolist tradition and Durkheim. As an overview of the anthropology of religion, this is a frequently cited book.
  84. Find this resource:
  85. Scupin, Raymond L. 2007. Religion and culture: An anthropological focus. 2d ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  86. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  87. Collection of articles intended for students, exploring religion and related phenomena in cultural context.
  88. Find this resource:
  89. Stein, Rebecca, and Philip L. Stein. 2010. The anthropology of religion, magic, and witchcraft. 3d ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  90. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  91. Introductory book intended for first-time students, emphasizing religion in small-scale or tribal societies. Reader-friendly.
  92. Find this resource:
  93. Early Intellectualist and Evolutionary Approaches
  94.  
  95. The earliest theorists of magic included intellectualists, who saw magic as an explanation of causality, and evolutionists, who postulated magic as a stage of cultural development. The two views often coincided. Frazer 1922 (originally published in 1890) and Tylor 1920 argue that magic precedes religion and science; these works are by towering figures to whom nearly all future writers would refer for decades. Frazer also contributed influential terminology for analyzing types of magical practices, most famously the distinction between homeopathic and contagious magic. King 1892 is by an evolutionist who contributed the term mana to describe impersonal magical forces. The idea that magic is qualitatively distinguishable from religion was not confined to the evolutionists, but was developed by foundational social theorists (see Durkheim 1965, Weber 1978, and Weber 1991). Mauss 1972 extends Durkheim’s view that magic and religion are separate and distinct, through a comparative study that also applies King’s mana concept. Marrett 1909 is an intellectualist work that begins to suggest later psychological interpretations of magic.
  96.  
  97. Durkheim, Émile. 1965. The elementary forms of the religious life. Translated by Joseph Ward Swain. New York: Free Press.
  98. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  99. A foundational work in the sociology and anthropology of religion. Pages 57–60 offer an oft-cited view of magic as technical, utilitarian, and noninstitutionalized, and thus distinct from religion. Borrows some terms from Frazer and Tylor, although rejects Frazer’s evolutionary view that magic precedes religion. Originally published in French in 1915.
  100. Find this resource:
  101. Frazer, James G. 1922. The golden bough: A study in magic and religion. Abridged ed. London: Macmillan.
  102. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  103. Influential, broadly comparative work postulating that magic precedes religion and science. The study focuses on rituals and beliefs related to sacred kingship, but extends to encyclopedic coverage of folklore and myth from around the world and through history. Often quoted for its distinction between homeopathic and contagious magic. Originally published in 1890 as The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion.
  104. Find this resource:
  105. King, John H. 1892. The supernatural: Its origin, nature, and evolution. 2 vols. London: Williams and Norgate.
  106. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  107. Contributes the concept of “mana” (probably a misapplication of a Melanesian word) as impersonal force or luck. Posits an evolutionary sequence in which belief in mana preceded animism and religion.
  108. Find this resource:
  109. Marett, R. R. 1909. The threshold of religion. London: Methuen.
  110. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  111. Marett’s work echoes and prefigures works by more well-known authors of his day, both intellectualists and the psychologically inclined. He viewed magic as an emotionally satisfying response to stress, and in this work explores the relationship between religious consciousness and experience.
  112. Find this resource:
  113. Mauss, Marcel. 1972. A general theory of magic. Translated by Robert Brain. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
  114. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  115. Significant, broadly comparative study that extends Durkheim’s conception of magic (individual and private) as separate from religion (collective and public). Emphasizes the primary feature of magic as a belief in an impersonal, efficacious power, or mana, which Mauss explicates through comparative examples. English translation of Esquisse d’une théorie generale de la magie, coauthored with H. Hubert, 1902.
  116. Find this resource:
  117. Tylor, Edward B. 1920. Primitive culture: Researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, language, art, and custom 2 vols. London: John Murray.
  118. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  119. Early work postulating sequence of magic, religion, and science. Tylor viewed magic as an intellectual error that survived from earlier stages of evolution. He is considered intellectualist in his approach to magic and religion because he emphasizes explanatory functions of both. His work profoundly influenced anthropological views of magic and religion for several decades. Originally published in 1871.
  120. Find this resource:
  121. Weber, Max. 1978. Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
  122. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  123. As part of a larger posthumous work, this classic includes passages differentiating magic and religion, and also showing how religion retains magical elements. Attention to characteristics of magical attitudes and experiences. Pages 402–437 are most useful.
  124. Find this resource:
  125. Weber, Max. 1991. The social psychology of the world religions. In From Max Weber: Essays in sociology. By Max Weber. Edited by H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, 267–301. Routledge Sociology Classics. London: Routledge.
  126. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  127. Passages dealing with magic posit magic as oriented toward achieving material, utilitarian goals, as opposed to religion’s orientation toward psychological needs and rationally satisfactory answers. A classic work by an author hugely influential in the social sciences. Essay originally published in 1915.
  128. Find this resource:
  129. Responses
  130.  
  131. Throughout the 20th century, numerous anthropologists critically examined the work of Frazer, Tylor, Durkheim, and other foundational theorists, usually rejecting the separation of magic and religion and arguing for a combined, general magico-religious realm. Lowie 1924 and Douglas 1970 are carefully reasoned works in this vein from important figures in the field; Lowie 1924 stands out for its carefully reasoned critique based on ethnographic evidence. While supporting some aspects of Frazer’s thinking, Titiev 1960 also rejects the separation of magic and religion, proposing instead classifying rituals as calendrical or critical. Other critics have attacked the intellectualists’ emphasis on magic and religion as forms of explanation (see, e.g., Wittgenstein 2002). Still others point out that magic as a concept always relies on an imposition of categories or judgments from the researcher’s own culture (see Pocock 1972). Smith 1975 takes a slightly different position, arguing that if magic and religion are indeed different, it is because society views them that way.
  132.  
  133. Douglas, Mary. 1970. Purity and danger: An analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.
  134. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  135. Comparative, theoretical analysis of concepts of pollution by the preeminent Durkheimian anthropologist of the mid-20th century. Portions of the work take up the concept of magic. Douglas is critical of past views that separate magic from religion or that misunderstand their functions. She responds here to theories of magic by Tylor, Frazer, Durkheim, and Malinowski. Originally published 1966.
  136. Find this resource:
  137. Lowie, Robert. 1924. Primitive religion. New York: Boni and Liveright.
  138. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  139. Chapter 6 (pages 136–152) is a point-by-point examination of early intellectualist views of magic, focusing on Frazer, Marrett, and, briefly, Durkheim. Lowie, an early founder of US anthropology, uses comparative examples, from the ethnographic literature of the time, to conclude that the separation of magic and religion is untenable.
  140. Find this resource:
  141. Pocock, David. 1972. Forward. In A general theory of magic. By Marcel Mauss, 1–6. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
  142. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  143. Evaluates and contextualizes Mauss’s study of magic, with particular attention to Claude Lévi-Strauss’s response to Mauss. Highlights Lévi-Strauss’s criticism that Mauss’s treatment of mana imposes a category from the scholar’s own culture or thinking.
  144. Find this resource:
  145. Smith, Jonathan Z. 1975. Good news is no news: Aretology and gospel. In Christianity, Judaism, and other Greco-Roman cults: Studies for Morton Smith at sixty. Vol 1. Edited by Jacob Neusner, 21–38. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
  146. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  147. Following Durkheim, Smith emphasizes the social distinction between magic and religion, noting that their main difference lies in how society evaluates them. A noted historian of religions, Smith also discusses the Greco-Roman condemnation of magic.
  148. Find this resource:
  149. Titiev, Mischa. 1960. A fresh approach to the problem of magic and religion. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 16.3: 292–298.
  150. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  151. Titiev modifies Durkheim’s influential distinction between magic (as individual, private) and religion (as collective, public, institutionalized), arguing that both have similar ends: the appeal for help or guidance. He offers an alternative model that emphasizes types of rituals, and their timing and purposes.
  152. Find this resource:
  153. Wittgenstein, Ludwig. 2002. Remarks on Frazer’s Golden Bough. In A reader in the anthropology of religion. Edited by Michael Lambek, 85–89. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
  154. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  155. This prominent philosopher critiques the intellectualist tradition, dismantling Frazer’s assertion that magic, ritual, and religion primarily serve explanatory functions. Originally written around 1931.
  156. Find this resource:
  157. Early Psychological and Functionalist Approaches
  158.  
  159. By the early decades of the 20th century, writers from within and beyond anthropology understood magic from psychological perspectives. As in other time periods, major theorists—often acknowledged mostly for their work in other areas—applied their distinctive lenses to magic. Influenced by Tylor and Frazer, Sigmund Freud accepted the idea of a magical stage of evolution, which he connected to childhood development and mental illness (Freud 1938). Carl Jung, meanwhile, emphasized archetypal images in magic and religion (Jung 1958). The most significant anthropologist to consider magic in terms of its psychological functions was Bronislaw Malinowski. From his functionalist perspective (Malinowski 1955), he saw magic as serving psychological needs by raising confidence. His arguments were groundbreaking in part because they emerged from ethnographic research (Malinowski 1935). Malinowski’s work was also influential in its assertion that societies practicing magic are no less capable of rational thought than those with science, a response to Lévy-Bruhl 1926 (cited under Role as Mode of Thinking, Worldview). Later works in the psychological and functionalist vein, largely supporting Malinowski, include Kluckhohn 1962 and Shirley and Romney 1962. Frazer’s understanding of sympathetic magic is found to be relevant to US dietary examples in two related articles: Nemeroff and Rozin 1992 and Rozin and Nemeroff 1990.
  160.  
  161. Freud, Sigmund. 1938. Totem and taboo: Resemblances between the physic lives of savages and neurotics. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.
  162. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  163. The father of psychoanalysis sought connections between stages of childhood development and stages of cultural evolution, drawing upon Tylor and Frazer. This work treats magic as an early stage for individuals and for societies. Freud saw magic (in cultural evolution) as akin to childhood’s narcissistic stage, which might potentially reemerge in mental illness. Originally published in 1913.
  164. Find this resource:
  165. Jung, Carl. 1958. The collected works of C.G. Jung. Vol. 11, Psychology and religion: West and East. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
  166. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  167. Jung postulates that similarities in magico-religious images and myths are due to archetypes, or mental models in the collective unconscious (a part of the mind that inherits experiences from the collective past), and that such images are therapeutically helpful to individuals.
  168. Find this resource:
  169. Kluckhohn, Clyde. 1962. Navaho witchcraft. Boston: Beacon.
  170. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  171. Examines magic and sorcery from sociological and psychological perspectives, emphasizing their function as expressions of conflict. By a noted ethnographer.
  172. Find this resource:
  173. Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1935. Coral gardens and their magic. New York: American Book.
  174. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  175. A detailed account of magic in the Trobriand Islands. Significant as an ethnographic work by one of the key theorists of magic, but not as theoretically concise as Malinowski 1955. Also published in London as a two-volume edition, and in numerous reprints.
  176. Find this resource:
  177. Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1955. Magic, science, and religion. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
  178. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  179. Influential collection of earlier papers, by one of the first anthropologists to base a theory of magic on ethnographic evidence. Argues that magic raises psychological confidence in situations of uncertainty, and sees magic as operating on specific problems while religion deals with issues of human existence. Originally published in 1948.
  180. Find this resource:
  181. Nemeroff, Carol, and Paul Rozin. 1992. Sympathetic magical beliefs and kosher dietary practices: The interaction of rules and feelings. Ethos 20.1: 96–115.
  182. DOI: 10.1525/eth.1992.20.1.02a00040Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  183. An application of Frazer’s two types of magic (homeopathic and contagious principles) to diet in the United States, by two psychologists working within anthropological framework. Tests whether the two principles work separately.
  184. Find this resource:
  185. Rozin, Paul, and Carol Nemeroff. 1990. The laws of sympathetic magic: A psychological analysis of similarity and contagion. In Cultural psychology: Essays on comparative human development. Edited by James W. Stigler, Gilbert Herdt, and Richard A. Shweder, 205–232. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  186. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  187. Applies Frazer’s laws of homeopathic and contagious magic to the contemporary United States, focusing on foods perceived as disgusting or repulsive.
  188. Find this resource:
  189. Shirley, Robert W., and A. Kimball Romney. 1962. Love magic and socialization anxiety: A cross-cultural study. American Anthropologist 64.5: 1028–1031.
  190. DOI: 10.1525/aa.1962.64.5.02a00100Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  191. A response to Malinowski and others. Proposes that love magic designed to unite a desired sexual object is elaborated in societies with high sexual anxiety. Part of a larger thread of research on this question.
  192. Find this resource:
  193. Responses
  194.  
  195. Malinowski’s view that magic satisfies psychological needs by reducing anxiety has been supported by the work of numerous researchers, including Gell 1988, Rosengren 1976, and Rosenthal and Siegel 1959. Gmelch 2010 applies Malinowski’s model to American baseball, drawing parallels between examples of magical practices in the Trobriand Islands and the United States, while Felson and Gmelch 1979 is an empirical test of Malinowski’s anxiety reduction thesis. However, some of the same authors, as well as others, have criticized Malinowski’s view that magic and religion are separate phenomena. Earlier theorists separated magic and religion for different reasons (for Frazer and Tylor, they were different evolutionary stages; for Durkheim, magic was private while religion was collective). Malinowski, however, argued that magic served practical, utilitarian needs, while religion was concerned with ultimate questions. This view has been rejected by some, as seen in Ames 1964 and Geertz 1975.
  196.  
  197. Ames, Michael M. 1964. Buddha and the dancing goblins: A theory of magic and religion. American Anthropology 66.1: 75–82.
  198. DOI: 10.1525/aa.1964.66.1.02a00070Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  199. Considers magical healing rituals associated with Theravada Buddhism of Sri Lanka, in an effort to reconsider the customary divide between religion and magic. Specifically, Ames takes up Malinowski’s claim that magic is practical and utilitarian, while religion is not.
  200. Find this resource:
  201. Felson, Richard B., and George Gmelch. 1979. Uncertainty and the use of magic. Current Anthropology 20.3: 587–589.
  202. DOI: 10.1086/202333Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  203. Empirical test of Malinowski’s claim that magic alleviates anxiety under uncertainty, with American and Irish college students.
  204. Find this resource:
  205. Geertz, Hildred. 1975. An anthropology of religion and magic, I. Journal of Interdisciplinary History 6.1: 71–89.
  206. DOI: 10.2307/202825Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  207. Detailed response to the unproblematized use of the concept of magic by the historian Keith Thomas in his study of Elizabethan England in 1971. Geertz, an anthropologist, evaluates and contextualizes classic anthropological theorists of magic, and argues against the false separation of magic and religion.
  208. Find this resource:
  209. Gell, Alfred. 1988. Technology and magic. Anthropology Today 4.2: 6–9.
  210. DOI: 10.2307/3033230Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  211. Responds positively to Malinowski, seeing magic as a technology of enchantment, distinct from other technologies.
  212. Find this resource:
  213. Gmelch, George. 2010. Baseball magic. In Magic, witchcraft, and religion: A reader in the anthropology of religion. 8th ed. Edited by Pamela A. Moro and James E. Myers, 320–326. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  214. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  215. Readable article that has appeared in several anthologies used in teaching anthropology, with slight revisions and updated examples over time. Uses examples of magic and superstition from baseball, and applies Malinowski’s understanding of magic as a way to alleviate anxiety in situations under which one has no control. Available online.
  216. Find this resource:
  217. Rosengren, Karl Erik. 1976. Malinowski’s magic: The riddle of the empty cell. Current Anthropology 17.4: 667–685.
  218. DOI: 10.1086/201802Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  219. Theoretical reconsideration of Malinowski’s tripartite separation of magic, religion, and science, with responses by twelve commentators.
  220. Find this resource:
  221. Rosenthal, Theodore, and Bernard J. Siegel. 1959. Magic and witchcraft: An interpretation from dissonance theory. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 15.2: 143–167.
  222. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  223. A mid-20th-century extension of Malinowski’s psychological interpretation of magic.
  224. Find this resource:
  225. Role as a Mode of Thinking, Worldview
  226.  
  227. A vein of anthropology long explored the possibility that magic, based by definition on analogy or nonempirical relationships between cause and effect, represents a way of thinking different from that of science. To some authors, whole populations or cultures could be characterized as magical in their outlook, a view epitomized by Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, who held that primitives used prelogical thinking (Lévy-Bruhl 1926). Claude Lévi-Strauss saw magic as a distinct way of thinking, but one that could be practiced by anyone (Lévi-Strauss 1963). By far the most influential and well-regarded argument that magic is a distinct mode of thinking, based on ethnographic evidence, is in Evans-Pritchard 1976, prefigured by Evans-Pritchard 1929. Similar arguments followed in Beattie 1970 and Douglas 1970. In a series of articles published in the early 1960s, Murray and Rosalie Wax dismantled the separation of magic, religion, and science while positing distinctive features to the magical worldview (Wax and Wax 1962, Wax and Wax 1964, and Wax and Wax 1963, the latter cited under General Overviews).
  228.  
  229. Beattie, John H. M. 1970. On understanding ritual. In Rationality. Edited by Bryan R. Wilson, 240–269. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
  230. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  231. Working in the vein of Evans-Pritchard, Beattie distinguishes two modes of thought: symbolic (associated with magic, religion, and art) and scientific. Beattie is critical of the early intellectualists, such as Frazer, who recognized only one mode of thought, albeit one changing through evolution.
  232. Find this resource:
  233. Douglas, Mary. 1970. Thirty years after Witchcraft, oracles, and magic. In Witchcraft confessions and accusations. By Mary Douglas and E. E. Evans-Pritchard, xiii–xxxviii. London: Tavistock Publications.
  234. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  235. An assessment of the impact of Evans-Pritchard’s theory of magic, by a preeminent British anthropologist of the mid-20th century.
  236. Find this resource:
  237. Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1929. The morphology and function of magic: A comparative study of Trobriand and Zande ritual and spells. American Anthropologist 31.4: 619–641.
  238. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  239. Insightful comparison of ethnographic materials from Malinowski as well as the author’s own work. Prefigures author’s significant 1937 publication (Evans-Pritchard 1976).
  240. Find this resource:
  241. Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1976. Witchcraft, oracles, and magic among the Azande. Abridged with an introduction by Eva Gillies. Oxford: Clarendon.
  242. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  243. A landmark in the ethnographic study of magic, influencing all future anthropological treatments of the topic. Posits that magic and related phenomena constitute a mode of thought distinct from empirical thinking based on observation, both of which are present in Zande culture. Originally published in 1937.
  244. Find this resource:
  245. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1963. Structural anthropology. Translated by Claire Jacobson and Brooke Grundfest Schoepf. New York: Basic Books.
  246. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  247. In part 3, “Magic and Religion,” the influential French structuralist pursues questions regarding the magical worldview. He sees activities of the magician as part of the process of human actions, filling in links in a chain of causation. Ultimately, Lévi-Strauss argues against separating magic from religion. Originally published in French in 1962.
  248. Find this resource:
  249. Lévy-Bruhl, Lucien. 1926. How natives think. New York: Knopf.
  250. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  251. Influential in his day, but largely disregarded now, Lévy-Bruhl argues that primitive peoples engage in mystical or prelogical thought, which is different from the mode of thought in Western science and empiricism. What Lévy-Bruhl considers mystical thinking is essentially what other authors label as magic. Originally published in French in 1910.
  252. Find this resource:
  253. Wax, Murray, and Rosalie Wax. 1964. Magic and monotheism. In Symposium on new approaches to the study of religion. Proceedings of the 1964 Annual Spring Meeting of the American Ethnological Society. Edited by June Helm, 50–60. Seattle: Univ. of Washington Press.
  254. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  255. Clear, readable comparison of magic and monotheism as worldviews. The authors work with the Great Tradition/Little Tradition paradigm popular at the time. Uses examples from ancient Judaism and the Bible, emphasizing concepts of power.
  256. Find this resource:
  257. Wax, Rosalie, and Murray Wax. 1962. The magical worldview. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 1.2: 179–188.
  258. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259. Readable theoretical account of magic as a distinct worldview.
  260. Find this resource:
  261. Language-Based Analyses of Magical Texts
  262.  
  263. In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of anthropologists turned their attention to the texts of magic. In ethnographically oriented studies, Brown 1984 and Rosaldo 1975 emphasized expression and performance rather than the meaning or functions of magic. In a more theoretical vein, Weiner 1983 focused on the heart of magic as the concept has been used by anthropologists—the analogical relationship between magical causes and effects—which she likens to the relationship between words and things.
  264.  
  265. Brown, Michael F. 1984. The role of words in Aguaruna hunting magic. American Ethnologist 11.3: 545–558.
  266. DOI: 10.1525/ae.1984.11.3.02a00080Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  267. Part of the theoretical vein emphasizing words and the performance of magical texts. Working with magical hunting songs, Brown argues against the separation of magic and technology (as expressive vs. instrumental functions). Instead, he sees both as part of a general ordering process.
  268. Find this resource:
  269. Rosaldo, Michelle Z. 1975. It’s all uphill: The creative metaphors of Ilongot magical spells. In Sociocultural dimensions of language use. Edited by Mary Sanches and Ben Blount, 177–203. New York: Academic Press.
  270. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  271. Exemplifies vein of research that approaches magic as a form of expression or poesis.
  272. Find this resource:
  273. Weiner, Annette B. 1983. From words and objects to magic: Hard words and the boundaries of social interaction. Man, n.s., 18.4: 690–709.
  274. DOI: 10.2307/2801903Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  275. Theoretical piece identifying similarity between magic and the relationship between words and things. Worthwhile article by an ethnographer who, like Malinowski, worked in the Trobriand Islands.
  276. Find this resource:
  277. Contemporary Reexaminations of the Magic Concept
  278.  
  279. The 1980s and 1990s saw critical reassessments of the concept of magic in anthropology’s history, most including intellectual overviews of key authors dating back to the time of Frazer and Tylor. Kapferer 2003 stands out for its attention to late-20th-century developments and a careful assessment of Evans-Pritchard 1976 (cited under Role as Mode of Thinking, Worldview), arguing that inquiry into magic has stood at the heart of anthropology throughout all periods. By far the most significant theoretical rethinking, however, is the series of publications by Stanley Tambiah, starting with an historical overview and identification of themes in Tambiah 1968. Tambiah 1985 and Tambiah 1990 build a careful case that because magic is empirically unverifiable, it must be understood as performance, not bad science. Less well-known but worthwhile perspectives are offered in Olivier de Sardan 1992 and Lewis 1986, both of which consider images or representations of magic. Greenwood 2009 employs experimental methodology and rejects older psychological and functional interpretations of magic.
  280.  
  281. Greenwood, Susan. 2009. The anthropology of magic. Oxford and New York: Berg.
  282. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  283. Rethinks theoretical and methodological debates by viewing magic as a form of human consciousness, irreducible to psychological or social factors and available to everyone. Combining academic and nonacademic approaches, the author takes up not only classical anthropological theories but also her own experiences as a practitioner of magic.
  284. Find this resource:
  285. Kapferer, Bruce. 2003. Introduction: Outside all reason—Magic, sorcery and epistemology in anthropology. In Beyond rationalism: Rethinking magic, witchcraft and sorcery. Edited by Bruce Kapferer, 1–30. New York: Berghahn Books.
  286. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  287. Introduction to an important volume significant for its contemporary scope, in contrast to the many works published up through the 1990s that retell ideas of the early theorists. Lengthy section assesses the impact of Evans-Pritchard 1976 (cited under Role as a Mode of Thinking, Worldview). Sees magic and sorcery at the center of anthropology’s development, through all theoretical periods.
  288. Find this resource:
  289. Lewis, Gilbert. 1986. The look of magic. Man, n.s., 21.3: 414–437.
  290. DOI: 10.2307/2803094Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  291. Considers the effect of media representations on understandings of magic. Notes that explanations of magic involve imputing motives to people. Using ethnographic data, Lewis takes a developmental perspective to understand how people’s opinions of magic change over time.
  292. Find this resource:
  293. O’Keefe, Daniel Lawrence. 1983. Stolen lightning: The social theory of magic. New York: Vintage.
  294. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  295. Massive work integrates multidisciplinary approaches to magic, ultimately promoting the view of magic as a response to social pressures such as religion and collective morality. Wide-ranging scope with examples from throughout history and across cultures, including the urban contemporary world.
  296. Find this resource:
  297. Olivier de Sardan, Jean-Pierre. 1992. The exoticizing of magic from Durkheim to “postmodern” anthropology. Critique of anthropology 12.1: 5–25.
  298. DOI: 10.1177/0308275X9201200101Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  299. Critique of anthropology’s tendency to overexoticize magic and religion, with a focus on Africa. Considers works from early periods of the discipline up through postmodernism. Points out that magico-religious representations are often viewed by participants as part of daily life.
  300. Find this resource:
  301. Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. 1968. The magical power of words. Man, n.s., 3.2: 175–208.
  302. DOI: 10.2307/2798500Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  303. First of several theoretically oriented publications by Tambiah that constitute major rethinkings of the anthropological study of magic. Distinguishes two ways of analyzing magic: in terms of its outer pragmatic frame (functions or ends) and in terms of its inner semantic frame (the logic by which it transfers properties). Uses examples from Malinowski and Frazer.
  304. Find this resource:
  305. Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. 1985. Form and meaning of magical acts. In Culture, thought, and social action: An anthropological perspective. By Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, 60–86. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
  306. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  307. Important work by preeminent contemporary theorist of magic. Emphasizing the symbolic nature of magical acts, proposes that magic is performative and not subject to empirical verification. Considers analogical process by which magic transfers property. Uses examples from Evans-Pritchard’s examples of medical rituals. Originally published in 1973.
  308. Find this resource:
  309. Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. 1990. Magic, science, religion, and the scope of rationality. Lewis Henry Morgan Essays. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  310. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  311. A masterful reconsideration of the major approaches to magic across the history of anthropology. Revisits the classical opposition between science and magic, and advocates viewing magic as a rhetorical act, not bad science. Like other authors, Tambiah works with a dichotomy, here between causal and participatory orientations to reality.
  312. Find this resource:
  313. Ethnographic Studies, Pre-1980
  314.  
  315. Just as magic has been an important concept in all periods of anthropological theory, countless ethnographic publications treat magic, either as a central theme or in passing. The works selected here stand out because of the acclaim of their authors or because of the scope and intensity of their ethnographic documentation, or both. Malinowski 1965 and Evans-Pritchard 1956 are ethnographic studies by anthropologists whose theoretical approaches to magic have been influential. Fortune 1959 is an early study of sorcery, magic, and related phenomena noted for its rigor and detail. Beyer 1978, Spiro 1982, and Terwiel 1975 are examples of thoroughly documented, fieldwork-based accounts. Moody 1974 is noteworthy for its attention to a provocative US example, analyzed from a psychological perspective.
  316.  
  317. Beyer, Stephan. 1978. The cult of Tārā: Magic and ritual in Tibet. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
  318. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  319. Detailed documentation based on fieldwork in a Tibetan community in India, as well as Tibetan and Sanskrit source materials, emphasizing ritual and magical practice.
  320. Find this resource:
  321. Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1956. Nuer religion. Oxford: Clarendon.
  322. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  323. Classic ethnography by author whose theoretical works on magic have been highly influential. Provides a detailed account of the Nuer of East Africa, modifying earlier anthropological definitions of religion and totemism. Uses the magic concept when characterizing Nuer substances that contain their own power separate from a central deity.
  324. Find this resource:
  325. Fortune, Reo. 1959. Sorcerers of Dobu: The social anthropology of the Dobu islanders of the western Pacific. New York: Dutton.
  326. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  327. This classic ethnographic work attempts to unravel the cosmological world of magic and sorcery. Originally published in 1932.
  328. Find this resource:
  329. Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1965. Coral gardens and their magic: A study of the methods of tilling the soil and of agricultural rites in the Trobriand Islands. 2 vols. Introduction by Edmund R. Leach. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press.
  330. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  331. Extremely detailed descriptive accounts of Trobriand magical practices and texts related to all aspects of horticulture. This work provides the ethnographic evidence associated with Malinowski’s influential theoretical arguments about magic. The introduction by Leach addresses the impact of Malinowski’s work from a 1960s perspective. Originally published in 1935.
  332. Find this resource:
  333. Moody, Edward J. 1974. Magical therapy: An anthropological investigation of contemporary Satanism. In Religious movements in contemporary America. Edited by Irving I. Zaretsky and Mark P. Leone, 355–383. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
  334. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  335. Attempts to explain the persistence and/or resurgence of Satanism and black magic in the West, emphasizing the profile of participants, motivation, and psychological interpretations. Includes ethnographic description of magic in various forms as recognized by participants.
  336. Find this resource:
  337. Spiro, Melford E. 1982. Buddhism and society: A great tradition and its Burmese vicissitudes. 2d ed. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
  338. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  339. Addresses connections between magical practices and other aspects of religion in the daily lives of participants, including apotropaic practices intended to relieve everyday problems, bring about good fortune, and avert bad fortune. By a major mid-20th-century ethnographer. First edition published in 1970.
  340. Find this resource:
  341. Terwiel, B. J. 1975. Monks and magic: An analysis of religious ceremonies in central Thailand. Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur.
  342. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  343. A richly descriptive ethnography of religious practices in villages in Thailand in 1968–1969. The author participated in the life of local temple as an ordained monk. Includes attention to sources of magical power, such as amulets.
  344. Find this resource:
  345. Ethnographic Studies, Post-1980
  346.  
  347. Ethnographic interest in magic and related phenomena has never died out in anthropology. Fieldwork-based publications post-1980 reflect developments in ethnographic research, including conventions of writing, authority, and representation. The works selected here represent a number of approaches and analytical perspectives. Integrating a variety of theoretical orientations, Brown 2006 pays attention to both symbolic and instrumental functions of magic, while Luhrmann 1989 examines bases for belief and the motivations of participants. Long 2001 takes a historical approach emphasizing the commodification of magical practices over time. Richly detailed, Endicott 1991 is an older work that has been republished several times. A significant theme in contemporary ethnography of magic has been personhood and subjectivity, addressed in different ways by Keen 2006, Lindquist 2006, and Stephen 1995.
  348.  
  349. Brown, Michael F. 2006. Tsewa’s gift: Magic and meaning in an Amazonian society. Tuscaloosa: Univ. of Alabama Press.
  350. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  351. Detailed yet readable ethnography of hunting, gardening, and love magic among the Aguaruna of Peru, with attention to symbolic and instrumental functions of magical practices. Originally published in 1986 by the Smithsonian Institution Press.
  352. Find this resource:
  353. Endicott, Kirk M. 1991. An analysis of Malay magic. Singapore: Oxford Univ. Press.
  354. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  355. Ethnographic account of religion and magic on the Malay Peninsula. Originally published in 1970.
  356. Find this resource:
  357. Keen, Ian. 2006. Ancestors, magic, and exchange in Yolngu doctrines: Extensions of the person in time and space. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 12.3: 515–530.
  358. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9655.2006.00350.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  359. Ethnographic work outlining relationships between magic and song, totemic ancestors, and exchange. Identifies Durkheim’s separation of religion and magic as a false dichotomy.
  360. Find this resource:
  361. Lindquist, Galina. 2006. Conjuring hope: Magic and healing in contemporary Russia. New York: Berghahn Books.
  362. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  363. Ethnographic account of magic and healing as reflections of power and agency, structures of self, subjectivity, and affect among contemporary urban Russian people. Interprets magic as a response to illness and misfortune, among other functions.
  364. Find this resource:
  365. Long, Carolyn Morrow. 2001. Spiritual merchants: Religion, magic, and commerce. Knoxville: Univ. of Tennessee Press.
  366. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  367. Historical and ethnographic study of African American religions in North America, tracing the gradual commodification of magical charms across the 20th century. Uses Frazer’s concept of sympathetic magic, emphasizing a perceived connection between a charm and the person or events to be influenced.
  368. Find this resource:
  369. Luhrmann, T. M. 1989. Persuasions of the witch’s craft: Ritual magic in contemporary England. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
  370. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  371. Ethnographic study based on fieldwork in London beginning in 1983. Describes contemporary witches and their motivations for involvement, the organization of covens, rituals, and the use of magic.
  372. Find this resource:
  373. Stephen, Michele. 1995. A’aisa’s gifts: A study of magic and the self. Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. Press.
  374. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  375. An exploration of magic and self-conceptualizations among the Mekeo of Papua New Guinea, based on lengthy fieldwork. Addresses dream reporting and self-reflection, and develops the concept of “autonomous imagination” as a framework for comparing subjective processes across cultures.
  376. Find this resource:
  377. Experiential Methodology
  378.  
  379. While the oldest theorists of magic tended to explain away or debunk magic, a small number of anthropologists have experimented with other orientations. Distinct from the position of cultural relativism characteristic of most anthropology, these works rely on the authors’ own participation in magic, as in Glucklich 1997, Greenwood 2000, and Greenwood 2005. Lee 1987 recounts experiences that call the researcher’s normal assumptions into question.
  380.  
  381. Glucklich, Ariel. 1997. The end of magic. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
  382. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195108798.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  383. Examines present-day examples of magical practice in Banaras, India, in the context of theories of magic from throughout the history of anthropology and related fields. Emphasizes that participants perceive magic through a state of awareness the author calls “magical experience.”
  384. Find this resource:
  385. Greenwood, Susan. 2000. Magic, witchcraft and the otherworld: An anthropology. Oxford: Berg.
  386. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  387. Documents urban neopaganism in Britain, viewing magic as a form of communication with an otherworldly reality. Greenwood writes as an insider or participant while integrating scholarly sources.
  388. Find this resource:
  389. Greenwood, Susan. 2005. The nature of magic: An anthropology of consciousness. Oxford: Berg.
  390. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  391. Develops the term magical consciousness to characterize magic as a natural capacity of the human mind, and rejects scholarly approaches that explain away magic. Ethnographic content focuses on practitioners of neopaganism and other contemporary movements. Incorporates perspectives from the author’s own practices as well as ethnographic accounts.
  392. Find this resource:
  393. Lee, Raymond L. M. 1987. Amulets and anthropology: A paranormal encounter with Malay magic. Anthropology and Humanism Quarterly 12.3–4: 69–74.
  394. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  395. Considers the researcher’s experience with the paranormal in fieldwork, and explores the ritual control of emotion. Strives for a phenomenological approach that does not assess the veracity of magical experience.
  396. Find this resource:
  397. Magical Practices and the Modern State
  398.  
  399. Theoretical and ethnographic investigation of magic was reinvigorated in the late 20th century and the early 2000s through a number of publications treating magic as part of modernity and transnational processes, or in connection to the state and leadership. Most of these works redefine magic in unfamiliar ways, thoroughly breaking with the long tradition of scholarship that began with Tylor and Frazer and reached an apex with Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard. Most prominent within the scholarship on magic as part of modernity are two edited anthologies: Meyers and Pels 2003 and Moore and Sanders 2001. Case studies similarly exploring the relationship among magic, modernity, power, and the state are Bastian 2001 and LiPuma 2001. An earlier work focusing on magic as defined by the state is Anagost 1987. Comaroff and Comaroff 2001 lays a groundbreaking theoretical foundation positing magic as part of capitalism and other forms of transnationalism. Coronil 1997 and Taussig 1997 similarly explore the power of capitalism and persuasiveness of state leaders as forms of magic.
  400.  
  401. Anagost, Ann S. 1987. Politics and magic in contemporary China. Modern China 13.1: 40–61.
  402. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  403. Discusses magic as a category of feudal superstition as constructed by the state. Draws upon primary source materials from the Chinese state press.
  404. Find this resource:
  405. Bastian, Misty L. 2001. Vulture men, campus cultists and teenaged witches: Modern magics in Nigerian popular media. In Magical interpretations, material realities: Modernity, witchcraft and the occult in postcolonial Africa. Edited by Henrietta L. Moore and Todd Sanders, 71–96. London: Routledge.
  406. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  407. Applies the term magical modernity to describe witchcraft and the occult in relation to modernity, power, and the state. Considers Nigerian popular press narratives of bodily transformation, cultism in the university system, and teenaged female witches.
  408. Find this resource:
  409. Comaroff, Jean, and John L. Comaroff. 2001. Millennial capitalism: First thoughts on a second coming. In Millennial capitalism and the culture of neoliberalism. Edited by Jean Comaroff and John L. Comaroff, 1–56. Durham, NC: Duke Univ. Press.
  410. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  411. A theoretical essay that develops familiar concepts like “magic” in new ways, in an effort to understand the implications of capitalism and other transnational processes. Serves as the introduction to an edited anthology of ethnographic articles on similar themes.
  412. Find this resource:
  413. Coronil, Fernando. 1997. The magical state: Nature, money and modernity in Venezuela. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
  414. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  415. An example of the contemporary thread of literature that applies the notion of magic to characterize the power of capitalism and the persuasiveness of state leaders. This historical ethnography investigates transformations in oil wealth and state power in Venezuela throughout most of the 20th century.
  416. Find this resource:
  417. LiPuma, Edward. 2001. Encompassing others: The magic of modernity in Melanesia. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press.
  418. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  419. Contemporary ethnography exploring religion, evangelism, magic, and other topics as part of modernity.
  420. Find this resource:
  421. Meyer, Birgit, and Peter Pels. 2003. Magic and modernity: Interfaces of revelation and concealment. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.
  422. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  423. Edited volume of essays, comparative and theoretical in approach, proposing that magic is part of, rather than opposed to, modernity. Investigates how modern institutions use and produce magic. Extremely important volume for its theoretical contributions, including by major writers in present-day anthropology.
  424. Find this resource:
  425. Moore, Henrietta L., and Todd Sanders, eds. 2001. Magical interpretations, material realities: Modernity, witchcraft and the occult in postcolonial Africa. London: Routledge.
  426. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  427. Edited anthology of articles on contemporary witchcraft, with attention to practices of magic and witchcraft in relation to political and economic structures.
  428. Find this resource:
  429. Taussig, Michael T. 1997. The magic of the state. New York: Routledge.
  430. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  431. Experimental work that blurs the boundary between fiction and ethnography, by a premier contemporary ethnographer with a theoretical bent. Explores the powers of the modern state and global capital as magical practices.
  432. Find this resource:
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Public Pastes
We use cookies for various purposes including analytics. By continuing to use Pastebin, you agree to our use of cookies as described in the Cookies Policy.  OK, I Understand
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!