The Chain of Things
In The Chain of Things, Eric Downing shows how the connection between divinatory magic and reading shaped the experience of reading and aesthetics among nineteenth-century realists and modernist thinkers. He explores how writers, artists, and critics such as Gottfried Keller, Theodor Fontane, and Wa...
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| বিন্যাস: | Online |
| ভাষা: | ইংরেজি |
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Cornell University Press
2026
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| বিষয়গুলি: | |
| অনলাইন ব্যবহার করুন: | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110005 |
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| _version_ | 1869531446829383680 |
|---|---|
| author | Downing, Eric |
| author_browse | Downing, Eric |
| author_facet | Downing, Eric |
| author_sort | Downing, Eric |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | In The Chain of Things, Eric Downing shows how the connection between divinatory magic and reading shaped the experience of reading and aesthetics among nineteenth-century realists and modernist thinkers. He explores how writers, artists, and critics such as Gottfried Keller, Theodor Fontane, and Walter Benjamin drew on the ancient practice of divination, connecting the Greek idea of sympathetic magic to the German aesthetic concept of the attunement of mood and atmosphere. Downing deftly traces the genealogical connection between reading and art in classical antiquity, nineteenth-century realism, and modernism, attending to the ways in which the modern re-enchantment of the world—both in nature and human society—consciously engaged ancient practices that aimed at preternatural prediction. Of particular significance to the argument presented in The Chain of Things is how the future figured into the reading of texts during this period, a time when the future as a narrative determinant or article of historical faith was losing its force. Elaborating a new theory of magic as a critical tool, Downing secures crucial links between the governing notions of time, world, the "real," and art. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-172169 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Cornell University Press |
| publisherStr | Cornell University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1721692026-02-20T05:19:39Z The Chain of Things Downing, Eric German realism German modernism Gottfried Keller Theodor Fontane Walter Benjamin thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSA Literary theory thema EDItEUR::V Health, Relationships and Personal development::VX Mind, body, spirit::VXW Mysticism, magic and occult interests::VXWM Magic, spells and alchemy thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBF Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 In The Chain of Things, Eric Downing shows how the connection between divinatory magic and reading shaped the experience of reading and aesthetics among nineteenth-century realists and modernist thinkers. He explores how writers, artists, and critics such as Gottfried Keller, Theodor Fontane, and Walter Benjamin drew on the ancient practice of divination, connecting the Greek idea of sympathetic magic to the German aesthetic concept of the attunement of mood and atmosphere. Downing deftly traces the genealogical connection between reading and art in classical antiquity, nineteenth-century realism, and modernism, attending to the ways in which the modern re-enchantment of the world—both in nature and human society—consciously engaged ancient practices that aimed at preternatural prediction. Of particular significance to the argument presented in The Chain of Things is how the future figured into the reading of texts during this period, a time when the future as a narrative determinant or article of historical faith was losing its force. Elaborating a new theory of magic as a critical tool, Downing secures crucial links between the governing notions of time, world, the "real," and art. 2026-02-20T05:19:38Z 2026-02-20T05:19:38Z 2026-02-19T08:13:20Z 2018 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110005 9781501715921 9781501715938 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/172169 eng Signale: Modern German Letters, Cultures, and Thought open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/110005/2/9781501715938.pdf Cornell University Press Cornell University Press and Cornell University Library 10.7298/cqqh-1r16 10.7298/cqqh-1r16 05937e7b-c222-4680-9580-c09c5ce7a11e 9781501715921 9781501715938 Cornell University Press and Cornell University Library 366 Ithaca open access |
| spellingShingle | German realism German modernism Gottfried Keller Theodor Fontane Walter Benjamin thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSA Literary theory thema EDItEUR::V Health, Relationships and Personal development::VX Mind, body, spirit::VXW Mysticism, magic and occult interests::VXWM Magic, spells and alchemy thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBF Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 Downing, Eric The Chain of Things |
| title | The Chain of Things |
| title_full | The Chain of Things |
| title_fullStr | The Chain of Things |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Chain of Things |
| title_short | The Chain of Things |
| title_sort | chain of things |
| topic | German realism German modernism Gottfried Keller Theodor Fontane Walter Benjamin thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSA Literary theory thema EDItEUR::V Health, Relationships and Personal development::VX Mind, body, spirit::VXW Mysticism, magic and occult interests::VXWM Magic, spells and alchemy thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBF Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 |
| topic_facet | German realism German modernism Gottfried Keller Theodor Fontane Walter Benjamin thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSA Literary theory thema EDItEUR::V Health, Relationships and Personal development::VX Mind, body, spirit::VXW Mysticism, magic and occult interests::VXWM Magic, spells and alchemy thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBF Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 |
| url | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110005 |
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