Techniques of Illusion: A Cultural and Media History of Stage Magic in the Late Nineteenth Century

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Katharina Rein (University of Potsdam, Germany)

Techniques of Illusion

A Cultural and Media History of Stage Magic in the Late Nineteenth Century

Katharina Rein (University of Potsdam, Germany)

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Routledge
18 December 2024

The Arts: General & Reference; History of Art & Design Styles; Performance art; Theatre Studies; Magic, alchemy & hermetic thought

Series: Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies

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.

By: Katharina Rein (University of Potsdam Germany)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781032220802
ISBN 10: 1032220805
Series: Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies
Pages: 318
Publication Date: 18 December 2024
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

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

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