Conjuring Asia

2016-07-04 History

Author : Chris Goto-Jones
Release : 2016-07-04
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 624/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Conjuring Asia by : Chris Goto-Jones

Download or read book Conjuring Asia written by Chris Goto-Jones. This book was released on 2016-07-04. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The promise of magic has always commanded the human imagination, but the story of industrial modernity is usually seen as a process of disenchantment. Drawing on the writings and performances of the so-called 'Golden Age Magicians' from the turn of the twentieth century, Chris Goto-Jones unveils the ways in which European and North American encounters with (and representations of) Asia - the fabled Mystic East - worked to re-enchant experiences of the modern world. Beginning with a reconceptualization of the meaning of 'modern magic' itself - moving beyond conventional categories of 'real' and 'fake' magic - Goto-Jones' acclaimed book guides us on a magical mystery tour around India, China, and Japan, showing us levitations and decapitations, magic duels and bullet catches, goldfish bowls and paper butterflies. In the end, this mesmerizing book reveals Orientalism as a kind of magic in itself, casting a spell over Western culture that leaves it transformed, even today.

Constitutional Foundings in South Asia

2021-01-28 Law

Author : Kevin YL Tan
Release : 2021-01-28
Genre : Law
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 264/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Constitutional Foundings in South Asia by : Kevin YL Tan

Download or read book Constitutional Foundings in South Asia written by Kevin YL Tan. This book was released on 2021-01-28. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume addresses the idea of origins, how things are formed, and how they relate to their present and future in terms of 'constitution-making' which is a continuous process in South Asian states. It examines the drafting, nature, core values and roles of the first modern constitutions during the founding of the eight modern nation-states in South Asia. The book looks at the constitutions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It provides an explanatory description of the process and substantive inputs in the making of the first constitutions of these nations; it sets out to analyse the internal and external (including intra-regional) forces surrounding the making of these constitutions; and it sets out theoretical constructions of models to conceptualise the nature and role of the first constitutions (including constituent documents) in the founding of the modern nation-states and their subsequent impact on state-building in the region.

Techniques of Illusion

2023-05-03 Performing Arts

Author : Katharina Rein
Release : 2023-05-03
Genre : Performing Arts
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 488/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Techniques of Illusion by : Katharina Rein

Download or read book Techniques of Illusion written by Katharina Rein. This book was released on 2023-05-03. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Empire of Enchantment

2018-10-01 History

Author : John Zubrzycki
Release : 2018-10-01
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 883/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Empire of Enchantment by : John Zubrzycki

Download or read book Empire of Enchantment written by John Zubrzycki. This book was released on 2018-10-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: India's association with magicians goes back thousands of years. Conjurors and illusionists dazzled the courts of Hindu maharajas and Mughal emperors. As British dominion spread over the subcontinent, such wonder-workers became synonymous with India. Western magicians appropriated Indian attire, tricks and stage names; switching their turbans for top hats, Indian jugglers fought back and earned their grudging respect. This book tells the extraordinary story of how Indian magic descended from the realm of the gods to become part of daily ritual and popular entertainment across the globe. Recounting tales of levitating Brahmins, resurrections, prophesying monkeys and "the most famous trick never performed," Empire of Enchantment vividly charts Indian magic's epic journey from street to the stage. This heavily illustrated book tells the extraordinary, untold story of how Indian magic descended from the realm of the gods to become part of daily ritual and popular entertainment across the globe. Drawing on ancient religious texts, early travelers' accounts, colonial records, modern visual sources, and magicians' own testimony, Empire of Enchantment is a vibrant narrative of India's magical traditions, from Vedic times to the present day.

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