Modern Magic And The War On Miracles Summary

Within Jones’s article “Modern Magic and the War on Miracles”, he discusses the reasoning behind Robert Houdin’s trip to Algeria in 1856. His trip focused on turning the general population of Algerians away from religious leaders such as the Marabouts and ‘Isawiyya, by showing Algerian’s Arab chiefs how their magic is not actually from a divine source, instead it is a simple magic trick. Once arriving, he performed his most notable tricks, dazzling the audience to the point that they presented him with a plaque that pronounced him as the greatest magician in the world. However, the cultural bias of the French repeatedly and steadily influenced and corrupted the understanding of how ‘magic’ was viewed from the Algerian mindset. The Arab chiefs …show more content…
Audiences flock to see the ‘Isawiyya present their rituals at World Fairs, but believe that the magic cannot exist in their society while suspending their belief for the show to be properly entertained. By sending Houdin to try to illegitimatize the magical properties of the ‘Isawiyya, the French actually put emphasis on their belief of the reality of magic. The Algerians were thrust into a unique circumstance where their conquers were not satisfied with supremacy over their people through force, they also had to deal with their conquerors attempting cultural supremacy as well. This attempt of total supremacy brought the idea of magic to the forefront of belief, that magic held key positions in both French and Algerian societies. This is in direct opposition to the enlightenment views of magic the French held, that viewed magic akin to fiction: fun to see and to experience, but ultimately false. By implementing magic in the strategy of cultural domination, the French directly imposed magic’s significance in their own cultural image, showcasing the importance of magic within both cultures