Conjuring Hope : : Healing and Magic in Contemporary Russia / / Galina Lindquist.

• VerfasserIn: Lindquist, Galina,
• Place / Publishing House: New York; , Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2005]; ©2005
• Year of Publication: 2005
• Language: English
• Series: Epistemologies of Healing ; 1
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (272 p.)

Notions of magic and healing have been changing over past years and are now understood as reflecting local ideas of power and agency, as well as structures of self, subjectivity and affect. This study focuses on contemporary urban Russia and, through exploring social conditions, conveys the experience of living that makes magic logical. By following people’s own interpretations of the work of magic, the author succeeds in unraveling the logic of local practice and local understanding of affliction, commonly used to diagnose the experiences of illness and misfortune.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. Marketing Magic -- 2. Magic as Semiotic Changes: Ontologies, Rituals and Terms of Affliction -- 3. Magic as Management of Emotions -- 4. The Icons of Power: Constructing Charisma from the Means at Hand -- 5. Charisma of the Office: Healing Power and Biomedical Legitimacy -- 6. The Unspeakable Emotions: Spells and Their Use in Working Life -- 7. The Magic of Business and the Fostering of Hope -- Epilogue -- Bibliography -- Index