
The Reform of Time
Magic and Modernity
Maureen Perkins(Author)
Pluto Press
Published on 20. March 2001
Book
Paperback/Softback
168 pages
978-0-7453-1728-1 (ISBN)
Description
The decline of magic is generally discussed in the context of the rise of scientific knowledge and the spread of education. In this original critique, Maureen Perkins challenges such interpretations and argues that the nineteenth-century marginalisation of 'superstition' is part of a social history of time management. Perkins summarises the development of a sense of British temporal superiority and tackles enduring questions of colonialisation and class from the unusual angle of beliefs about time. She relates differing concepts of time to colonial discourse, particularly in relation to gypsies and Australian Aborigines, and to the development of national identity in calendar illustrations. She surveys technological developments in the calculation of time, and assesses the role of popular beliefs in astrology, books of fate, and prophetic dreaming. This fascinating study reveals how the increasing importance of accurate measurement of time in the modern world led to campaigns against the fatalism and apathy which popular practices, such as fortune-telling, supposedly encouraged.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Illustrations
19 b&w photographs
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 135 mm
Weight
260 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7453-1728-1 (9780745317281)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/2001
1st Edition
Pluto Press
€83.69
Available for download
Person
Maureen Perkins is a Research Fellow in the School of Communication and Cultural Studies at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia,. She is the author of Visions of the Future: Almanacs, Time, and Cultural Change 1775 - 1870 (OUP, 1996), and editor of 'Third Space and Cross-Cultural Identities' an edition of the electronic journal Mots Pluriels.
Content
1. Clocks, Calendars and Centralisation
2. Fortune-telling
3. The Interpretation of Dreams
4. Imperial Futures
5. Calendar Girls
6. Timeless Cultures
Index
2. Fortune-telling
3. The Interpretation of Dreams
4. Imperial Futures
5. Calendar Girls
6. Timeless Cultures
Index