MAGIC WITH A MESSAGE: The Poetics of Christian Conjuring
2012; Wiley; Volume: 27; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/j.1548-1360.2012.01140.x
ISSN1548-1360
Autores Tópico(s)Media, Communication, and Education
ResumoCultural AnthropologyVolume 27, Issue 2 p. 193-214 MAGIC WITH A MESSAGE: The Poetics of Christian Conjuring GRAHAM M. JONES, GRAHAM M. JONES Massachusetts Institute of TechnologySearch for more papers by this author GRAHAM M. JONES, GRAHAM M. JONES Massachusetts Institute of TechnologySearch for more papers by this author First published: 02 May 2012 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1360.2012.01140.xCitations: 12Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat ABSTRACT This article examines the performance practices of U.S. gospel magicians, evangelical Christians who convey religious messages with conjuring tricks. Emphatically denying that they possess supernatural powers and scrupulously avoiding effects that resemble biblical miracles, they take pains to present their tricks as unambiguously skillful performances intended to entertain, uplift, and instruct. When patterned on a Christian motif, otherwise self-referential magic tricks constitute a versatile signifying medium. Addressing the poetics of gospel magic in the setting of instructional workshops, this analysis explores a variety of ways performers utilize iconic resemblances between conjuring effects and Christian referents to produce complex and evocative expressions of faith. At the same time, they carefully manage signifiers of virtuosic agency that are intrinsic to the efficacy of gospel magic performance, but that also threaten to undermine their Christian message. REFERENCES CITED Adair, Stan, and Steve Varro 2004 What a Fellowship: A History of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians. Maple Grove , MN : Fellowship of Christian Magicians. Allen, Jonathan 2007 Tommy Angel. Cabinet 26: 106–108. Ammerman, Nancy Tatom 1987 Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World. New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press. Balmer, Randall 1993 Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America. New York : Oxford University Press. Bateson, Gregory 1972 Steps to an Ecology of Mind. New York : Ballantine. Bragard, Jean-Claude, and Anna Cox, dirs. 2006 The Miracles of Jesus. 150 min. British Broadcasting Corporation. London . Briggs, Charles L., and Richard Bauman 1992 Genre, Intertextuality, and Social Power. 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Thomas, Keith 1971 Religion and the Decline of Magic. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. Varro, Steve N.d. Gospel Magic in a Third World County: The Care and Feeding of Mission Minded Magicians. Printed by author. Wills, Keith 1999 Now You See It: Using Illusion to Present the Gospel. Carlisle , UK : Alpha. Woolston, C. Herbert 1910 Seeing Truth: A Book of Object Lessons with Magical and Mechanical Effects. Philadelphia : Griffith and Rowland Press. Yankah, Kwesi 1985 Risks in Verbal Art Performance. Journal of Folklore Research 22(2–3): 133–153. Editors' Notes: Cultural Anthropology has published a number of articles on performance, including Chris Garces's "The Cross Politics of Ecuador's Penal State" (2010), Jesse Weaver Shipley's "Comedians, Pastors, and the Miraculous Agency of Charisma in Ghana" (2009), and Jeffrey G. Snodgrass's "Imitation Is Far More Than the Sincerest of Flattery: The Mimetic Power of Spirit Possession in Rajasthan, India" (2002). Cultural Anthropology has also published articles on Evangelical Christianity. See, for example, William E. Connolly's "Some Theses on Secularism" (2011) and Omri Elisha's "Moral Ambitions of Grace: The Paradox of Compassion and Accountability in Evangelical Faith-Based Activism" (2008). Citing Literature Volume27, Issue2May 2012Pages 193-214 ReferencesRelatedInformation
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