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Until recently, tarot, astrology, and witchcraft were dismissed as the domain of the uneducated and the superstitious. Today, this kind of magical thinking has gone from abject to mainstream: it is all over social media, TV shows and books have leaned into the supernatural. Suddenly, zodiac sings, tarot decks, and withcraft re-entered the domain of coolness. This class will look at some expressions of the “new magic” in contemporary US culure and literature and investigate the rationale behind this cultural trend: Why is this happening? What triggered the rise of the “woo woo”? And where is the connection between Donald Trump's second presidency and the rise of the "new magic"? We will look for answers in documentaries, TV series, youtube channels, photography, fiction, and tarot cards. You don’t need any knowledge of astrology or tarot or magic to attend this class–your lecturer has none herself–only a genuine interest on how these submerged traditions have come to permeate our daily conversations and ideas of self. A reader with primary and secondary sources will be made available on Moodle. |
