Techniques of Illusion: A Cultural and Media History of Stage Magic in the Late Nineteenth Century
Author:   Katharina Rein (University of Potsdam, Germany)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN:  

9781032220796


Pages:   318
Publication Date:   14 August 2023
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Techniques of Illusion: A Cultural and Media History of Stage Magic in the Late Nineteenth Century


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Overview

This book explores stage conjuring during its “golden age,” from about 1860 to 1910. This study provides close readings highlighting four paradigmatic illusions of the time that stand in for different kinds of illusions typical of stage magic in the “golden age” and analyses them within their cultural and media-historical context: “Pepper’s Ghost,” the archetypical mirror illusion; “The Vanishing Lady,” staging a teleportation in a time of a dizzying acceleration of transport; “the levitation,” simulating weightlessness with the help of an extended steel machinery; and “The Second Sight,” a mind-reading illusion using up-to-date communication technologies. These close readings are completed by writings focusing on visual media and expanding the scope backwards and forwards in time, roughly to 1800 and to 2000. This exploration will be of great interest to students and scholars in theatre and performance studies.

Full Product Details

Author:   Katharina Rein (University of Potsdam, Germany)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.780kg
ISBN:  

9781032220796


ISBN 10:   1032220791
Pages:   318
Publication Date:   14 August 2023
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

List of figures Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Ghosts of the enlightenment. Phantasmagoria 2 Appearing and disappearing. Mirror illusions 3 Bending space and time. The vanish Entr’acte: Magic and early cinema 4 Techniques of weightlessness. Levitation 5 Codes and signals. Mentalism Entr’acte: Magic and media around 1900. The Prestige Concluding remarks Index

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Katharina Rein currently works as a Lecturer in European Media Studies at the University of Potsdam, Germany.

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