Illusion in Cultural Practice: Productive Deceptions Katharina Rein (University of Potsdam, Germany) 9781032036304

This volume explores illusionism as a much larger phenomenon than optical illusion, magic shows, or special effects, as a vital part of how we perceive, process, and shape the world we live in

This book considers different cultural practices characterised by illusionism, and suggests a new approach to illusion via media theory

This book speaks to a range of disciplines via illusionism - Each chapter in this book analyses a specific kind of illusionistic practice, and the concept of illusionism it entails in a given context, including philosophy, perception and cognitive theory, performance magic, occultism, optics, physiology, early cinema, cartomancy, spiritualism, architecture, shamanic rituals, and theoretical physics

The book provides detailed analyses of illusions within performance and ritual magic, philosophy, art history and psychology as well as a first approach to the study of illusions outside of these established fields

The book finds ways of identifying and analysing a wider range of illusions in the humanities

This multidisciplinary and comprehensive volume will appeal to scholars and students with an interest in media and culture, theatre and performance, philosophy, sociology, politics and religion

Katharina Rein currently works as Lecturer at the University of Potsdam (Germany). She holds a doctoral degree in Cultural History and Theory from the Humboldt-University of Berlin. Her award-winning dissertation examines the media and cultural history of stage magic in the late nineteenth century. Her academic work has been published in four languages.