Magic

The generic definition of magic is that it is ‘the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.’ Emphasis in the 20th century can be argued however to have moved more towards a focus on mysterious forces, as the development of stage magicians, and the knowledge by many of how the tricks were done, led to magic becoming a byword for illusion. For this course, magic is involved in many areas. It can be understood as entertainment done on a stage, where people find it a source of amazement and awe. It can also be a source of fear, with the anxiety towards witches and sorcerers being still present in our period of study, as seen in the manifestation of magical beings within the early cinema such as in the film ‘the magician.’ Magic also has colonial aspects, as the stereotypes and actual beliefs of native populations in such magic as witchdoctors and voodoo, shaped how the colonialists viewed and defined them.

Moreover, magic is an area where the boundary between science and supernatural can be explored. A good example of the interaction between magic and science is within the matter of witchcraft and later ideas around female hysteria. The 1922 documentary/film ‘Haxan’ explores this evolution in thought at the time, as the signs of witchcraft such as sleepwalking and dreams of the devil, later became seen as merely features of hysteria, as medical understanding replaced the supernatural. ‘Haxan’ places especial value on the idea that there was a move towards the treatment of women in asylums, away from torture and killings of the past enacted upon suspected witches.

There is some debate upon the definition, as there are Intellectualist, functionalist, and emotionalist approaches upon how the define what magic is. There is a good summary of this debate on the Wikipedia page 'magic (paranormal)' if you want to look more into these debates.

Example of a stage magician-

Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin

History has named him as the inventor of modern magic. He was a French magician. One of his most known tricks was where he made a box which could easily be lifted, become too heavy to be lifted. He also claimed that he made the people trying to lift the box weaker. He did this trick through switching on a hidden electromagnet, in a clear demonstration on how magic and science started to blur within the 19th century. He also did an act where he claimed to have ‘second sight,’ as he read people’s minds as part of his performance.

Another example of his use of scientific features as part of his magic was his ‘etheral suspension’ trick, where he used ether for magic. He told the audience that he discovered a marvelous new property of ether. "If one has a living person inhale this liquid when it is at its highest degree of concentration, the body of the patient for a few moments becomes as light as a balloon.” The use of medical terminology such as ‘patient’, and the use of the scientific discovery of ether, suggests that magic has aspects linked to science.