Otto BC (2022)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Other publication type
Publication year: 2022
Publisher: Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology
Edition: 2
DOI: 10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosm004.pub2
Open Access Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosm004.pub2
The term “magic” is characterized by a complex etymology and by a multifaceted semantic field. Throughout western history, discourses on magic have typically performed one of two social functions: ostracization and othering on the one hand, and fascination and self-identification on the other. While powerful anti-magical discourses set the dominant social, political, and legal attitudes toward magic for millennia, at least from late antiquity onwards a practitioner discourse flourished in parallel, leading to the development of “western learned magic,” a textual-ritual tradition that employed strikingly positive notions of magic. Such positive notions have, over the course of the last few decades, become widespread and influential motifs in popular media, contemporary spiritualities, and new religious movements. In the light of this surprising reversal of the long-term historical trend, it seems reasonable to argue that classical sociological theories of secularization and disenchantment have been proven wrong. In sum, magic is anything but a self-evident signifier. Rather, it is a complex cultural concept and a critical category in the study of religion that calls for nuanced modes of redefinition and retheorization.
APA:
Otto, B.-C. (2022). Magic. Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology.
MLA:
Otto, Bernd-Christian. Magic. Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2022.
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