A General Theory of Magic - Hardcover

Marcel Mauss

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0710073380 ISBN 13: 9780710073389

Publisher: Routledge, 1972

Synopsis

Physical description: [5], 148p; 23cm. Notes: Translation of 'Théorie de la magie'. Originally published in 'Sociologie et anthropologie'/par Marcel Mauss. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1950. Includes index. Subjects: Magic. Sociology. Psychology. Primitive societies.

About this title

Review

'It is enough to recall that Mauss' influence is not limited to ethnographers, none of whom could claim to have escaped it, but extends also to linguists, psychologists, historians or religion and orientalists.' - Claude Lévi-Strauss

From the Back Cover

'It is enough to recall that Mauss' influence is not limited to ethnographers, none of whom could claim to have escaped it, but extends also to linguists, psychologists, historians or religion and orientalists.' - Claude Livi-Strauss

First written by Marcel Mauss and Henri Humbert in 1902, 'A General Theory of Magic' gained a wide new readership when republished by Mauss in 1950. As a study of magic in 'primitive' societies and its survival today in our thoughts and social actions, it represents what Claude Livi-Strauss called, in an introduction to that edition, the astonishing modernity of the mind of one of the century's greatest thinkers. The book offers a fascinating snapshot of magic throughout various cultures as well as deep sociological and religious insights still very much relevant today. At a period when art, magic and science appear to be crossing paths once again, 'A General Theory of Magic' presents itself as a classic for our times.

Marcel Mauss (1872 - 1950). French anthropologist and sociologist, author of 'The Gift', and, with Emile Durkheim, 'Primitive Classification'.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1972
• ISBN 10: 0710073380
• ISBN 13: 9780710073389
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 148