Modes of Magicity in British Literature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71294/ers.2021.01Keywords:
magic, British literature, modes of magicity, magic story.Abstract
Abstract. The article examines the representation and evolution of Western European ideas of the magical in modern and postmodern British literature and the influence of this process on the development of genres. Three main “modes of magicity” can be identified: (learned) Magic, Witchcraft, and Faërie, which took their final shape during the Renaissance and were subject to transformation in subsequent periods. These modes produce particular types of “magic story”, which is defined as a type of narrative whose events require the use of magic or its imitations, which find their realization in literary works (including drama).
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