The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences

Product Description

A great many theorists have argued that the defining feature of modernity is that people no longer believe in spirits, myths, or magic. Jason Ā. Josephson-Storm argues that as broad cultural history goes, this narrative is wrong, as attempts to suppress magic have failed more often than they have succeeded. Even the human sciences have been more enchanted than is commonly supposed. But that raises the question: How did a magical, spiritualist, mesmerized Europe ever convince itself that it was disenchanted?

Josephson-Storm traces the history of the myth of disenchantment in the births of philosophy, anthropology, sociology, folklore, psychoanalysis, and religious studies. Ironically, the myth of mythless modernity formed at the very time that Britain, France, and Germany were in the midst of occult and spiritualist revivals. Indeed, Josephson-Storm argues, these disciplines’ founding figures were not only aware of, but profoundly enmeshed in, the occult milieu; and it was specifically in response to this burgeoning culture of spirits and magic that they produced notions of a disenchanted world.

By providing a novel history of the human sciences and their connection to esotericism, The Myth of Disenchantment dispatches with most widely held accounts of modernity and its break from the premodern past.

Review

“The Myth of Disenchantment is a model monograph: a work that condenses a dizzying array of information into a tightly woven and significant argument and then relays it in easily understandable and enjoyable prose. Its impact on the field at large is sure to be felt.”
― Journal of the American Academy of Religion

"While theories of 'reenchantment' have been proposed to account for this disparity, Josephson-Storm elegantly wields Occam’s razor in The Myth of Disenchantment to develop a new explanation: we have never really been disenchanted....Josephson-Storm’s The Myth of Disenchantment is a model monograph: a work that condenses a dizzying array of information into a tightly woven and significant argument and then relays it in easily understandable and enjoyable prose. Its impact on the field at large is sure to be felt." ― Journal of the American Academy of Religion

"An exemplary study that explores one of the central ideas that has informed modernity (as well as postmodernism and later developments). . . . The author writes in a lively style, interspersing explications of philosophical works with plenty of anecdotes, sometimes amusing, that exemplify the occult interests of often-unexpected thinkers. . . . Folklorists will benefit particularly from its demonstration not only of how their discipline's forebears contributed to continuing interest in magic but also of the paranormal among modernists."
― Journal of American Folklore

“The Myth of Disenchantment is a work of considerable clarity and directness. . .notable for its lucidity. . . . The Myth of Disenchantment is essential reading for those interested in the history of the modern humanities. It is directly engaged in this emerging field, investigating the figures and practices that constitute the history of the study of religion, critical theory, and other ‘human sciences.’ It features insightful syntheses of previous work, as well as original research into both obscure and well-worn areas of inquiry. . . offers a strong basis for future work.” ― History of Humanities

“In his bravura debunking of this myth, Josephson-Storm stresses that it is a keystone of the broader narrative of Western modernity as a ‘rupture’ with its own past and non-Western cultures, facilitating imperialist projects and hierarchical distinctions. . . . What truly distinguishes this cultural history is its genealogical account of the myth through the early decades of the twentieth century, alongside the deeply researched case studies [Josephson-Storm] provides, replete with arresting details and broad-ranging insights.” ― Victorian Studies

“The Myth of Disenchantm