General Theory Of Magic

The General Theory of Magic is a book about magic and how it is used in different cultures. It was written by Marcel Mauss and Henri Humbert in 1902, and it has been republished many times since then. Claude Levi-Strauss wrote an introduction to the 1950 edition of the book, which says that the book is "astonishingly modern" and that it is still relevant today.

First written by Marcel Mauss and Henri Humbert in 1902, A General Theory of Magic gained a wide new readership when republished by Mauss in 1950. As a study of magic in primitive societies and its survival today in our thoughts and social actions, it represents what Claude Levi-Strauss called, in an introduction to that edition, the astonishing modernity of the mind of one of the century's greatest thinkers. This work offers a snapshot of magic throughout various cultures as well as deep sociological and religious insights still very much relevant today. At a period when art, magic and science appear to be crossing paths once again, A General Theory of Magic presents itself as a classic for our times. Review: 'It is enough to recall that Mauss' influence is not limited to ethnographers, none of whom could claim to have escaped it, but extends also to linguists, psychologists, historians or religion and orientalists.' - Claude Levi-Strauss