MAGIC WITH A MESSAGE: The Poetics of Christian Conjuring
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Jones_Magic with.pdf
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498.63 KB
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Adobe PDF
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Author(s)
Jones, Graham M.
Date Issued
May 2012
Journal
Cultural Anthropology
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Citation
Jones, Graham M. “MAGIC WITH A MESSAGE: The Poetics of Christian Conjuring.” Cultural Anthropology 27, no. 2 (May 2, 2012): 193-214.
Version
Final published version
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.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Anthropology Program
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1360.2012.01140.x
