In recent years historians from disparate 64257elds have independently challenged the longstanding sociological view that modernity is characterized by disenchantment This view in its broadest terms maintains that wonders and marvels have been demys ID: 83048
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aminationoftherelateddiscoursesofmodernityasdisenchanted,whichassumedeitheraÒbinaryÓoraÒdialecticalÓformformuchofthepastcentury.WewillthenbeinapositiontoexaminetheemergingÒantinomialÓunderstandingofmodernityasenchantedinadisenchantedway.Thisantinomialapproachtothetopicofmo-dernityandenchantmentoffersacapaciouswaytoaddressahostofphenomenaformerlytreatedinamorelimitedandhierarchicalfashion,whichisoneofitsmoremarvelousfeatures.ÒMODERNITYÓISONEOFTHEMOSTAMBIGUOUSWORDSinthehistorianÕslexicon.Thetermisoftenusedasiftherewereacommonunderstandingofitsmeaning,whereasscholarscontinuetodeÞneitindifferentandsometimescontrastingways.(OnehistorianlikenedthetermtoaÒmultisidedroomofmirrors.Ó)3Inbroadoutline,modernityhascometosignifyamixtureofpolitical,social,intellectual,economic,technological,andpsychologicalfactors,severalofwhichcanbetracedtoearliercenturiesandothercultures,whichmergedsynergisticallyintheWestbetweenthesixteenthandnineteenthcenturies.Thesefactorsinclude(butarenotexhaustedby)theemergenceoftheautonomousandrationalsubject;thedifferentiationofculturalspheres;theriseofliberalanddemocraticstates;theturntopsychologismandself-reßexivity;andthedominanceofsecularism,nationalism,capitalism,industrialism,urbanism,consumerism,andscientism.Differentaccountsofmodernitymaystressdiversecombinationsoraccentuatesomefactorsmorethanothers.Thereisonecharacteristicofmodernity,however,thathasbeenemphasizedfairlyconsistentlybyintellectualssincetheeighteenthcentury:thatmodernityisÒdisenchanted.Ó43DavidHollinger,ÒTheKnowerandtheArtiÞcer,withPostscript1993,ÓinDorothyRoss,ed.,Mod-ernistImpulsesintheSocialSciences(Baltimore,Md.,1994),26.Anadequatesurveyoftheconceptofmodernitywouldrequireanessayinitsownright.AmongthemanyworksdevotedtoitareMarshallBerman,AllThatIsSolidMeltsintoAir:TheExperienceofModernity(Harmondsworth,1988);AnthonyJ.Cascardi,TheSubjectofModernity(Cambridge,1992);MateiCalinescu,FiveFacesofModernity(Durham,N.C.,1987);RitaFelski,TheGenderofModernity(Cambridge,Mass.,1995);DavidFrisby,FragmentsofModernity:TheoriesofModernityintheWorkofSimmel,Kracauer,andBenjamin(Cam-bridge,Mass.,1986);AnthonyGiddens,TheConsequencesofModernity(Stanford,Calif.,1990);HansUlrichGumbrecht,ÒAHistoryoftheConceptÔModern,ÕÓinGumbrecht,MakingSenseinLifeandLiterature,trans.GlenBurns(Minneapolis,Minn.,1992);Ju¬rgenHabermas,ThePhilosophicalDiscourseofModernity:TwelveLectures,trans.FrederickLawrence(Cambridge,Mass.,1987);StuartHall,DavidHeld,DonHubert,andKennethThompson,eds.,Modernity:AnIntroductiontoModernSocieties(Ox-ford,1996);JohnJervis,ExploringtheModern(Oxford,1998);LeszekKolakowski,ÒModernityonEnd-lessTrial,ÓinKolakowski,ModernityonEndlessTrial(Chicago,1990);ScottLashandJonathanFried-man,eds.,ModernityandIdentity(Oxford,1992);StephenToulmin,Cosmopolis:TheHiddenAgendaofModernity(NewYork,1990);CharlesTaylor,SourcesoftheSelf:TheMakingoftheModernIdentity(Cambridge,Mass.,1989);andBryanTurner,TheoriesofModernityandPostmodernity(London,1990).Foraspiritedinterrogationoftheconcept,seeBrunoLatour,WeHaveNeverBeenModern,trans.CatherinePorter(Cambridge,Mass.,1993).4SeeHansBlumenberg,TheLegitimacyoftheModernAge,trans.RobertM.Wallace(Cambridge,Mass.,1983);Brague,TheWisdomoftheWorld;MarcelGauchet,TheDisenchantmentoftheWorld:APoliticalHistoryofReligion,trans.OscarBurge(Princeton,N.J.,1997);JamesT.Kloppenberg,ÒDe-mocracyandDisenchantment:FromWebertoDeweytoHabermasandRorty,ÓinRoss,ModernistImpulsesintheSocialSciences AmericanJournalofSociology85,no.5(1980):1145Ð1179;EdwardShils,ÒMaxWeberandtheWorldsince1920,ÓinWolfgangMommsenandJu¬rgenOsterhammel,eds.,MaxWeberandHisContemporaries(London,1987),547Ð580;LawrenceA.Scaff,FleeingtheIronCage:Culture,Politics,andModernityintheThoughtofMaxWeber(Berkeley,Calif.,1989).6WebermayhavedrawnhisphrasefromSchiller,whosepoemÒDieGo¬tterGreichenlandsÓreferredtoÒdieentgo High-brow/Lowbrow:TheEmergenceofCulturalHierarchyinAmerica(Cambridge,Mass.,1988);BarbaraMariaStafford,ArtfulScience:EnlightenmentEntertainmentandtheEclipseofVisualEducation(Cam-bridge,Mass.,1994);andDominicStrinati,AnIntroductiontoTheoriesofPopularCulture(NewYork,1995).10Thisviewwasreiteratedin1976byBrunoBettelheim.Arguingforthepedagogicalimportanceoffairytalesforchildren,hemaintainedthatchildrenÕsthoughtisanimistic,likethatofÒallpreliteratepeopleÓ:ÒAchildtrustswhatthefairystorytells,becauseitsworldviewaccordswithhisown.ÓBet-telheim,TheUsesofEnchantment:TheMeaningandImportanceofFairyTales(NewYork,1976),45.11JohannP.Arnason,ÒReason,Imagination,Interpretation,ÓinGillianRobinsonandJohnRundell,eds.,RethinkingImagination:CultureandCreativity(London,1994),156Ð169;PatrickBrantlinger,TheReadingLesson:TheThreatofMassLiteracyinNineteenth-CenturyBritishFiction(Bloomington,Ind.,1998);JohnTinnonTaylor,EarlyOppositiontotheEnglishNovel:ThePopularReactionfrom1760to1830(NewYork,1943).TheanthropologistArjunAppaduraidescribesthedramaticshiftinattitudestowardfantasyandtheimaginationduringthecourseofthepasttwocenturies:ÒUntilrecently...acasecouldbemadethatfantasyandimaginationwereresidualpractices,conÞnedtospecialmomentsorplaces...[but]thisweighthasimperceptiblyshifted.Morepersonsthroughouttheworldseetheirlivesthroughtheprismsofpossiblelivesofferedbythemassmediainalltheirforms.Thatis,fantasyisnowasocialpractice;itenters,inahostofways,intothefabricationofsociallivesformanypeopleinmanysocieties.ÓAppadurai,ModernityatLarge:CulturalDimensionsofGlobalization(Minneapolis,Minn.,1997),53Ð54.12ChristopherHerbert,CultureandAnomie:EthnographicImaginationintheNineteenthCentury(Chicago,1991),35.13PeterLaslett,TheWorldWeHaveLost(1965;repr.,NewYork,2004).ForotherexplorationsofÒmodernityandnostalgia,ÓseeSylvianeAgacinski,TimePassing:ModernityandNostalgia(NewYork,2004);SvetlanaBoym,TheFutureofNostalgia(NewYork,2002);PeterFritzsche,StrandedinthePresent:696MichaelSalerAMERICANHISTORICALREVIEWJ (1981;repr.,NewYork,1988),2.16KeithThomas,ReligionandtheDeclineofMagic(NewYork,1971),ix.ModernityandEnchantment697AMERICANHISTORICALREVIEWJ FriedrichNietzscheexplicitlyequatedtheWesternÒfaithÓinreasonandsciencewithanirrationalbelief,onewhoseself-reßexivityundermineditselfsothatbythelatenineteenthcenturyitsadherentswereleftwithabeliefinnothing:17RobertDarnton,MesmerismandtheEndoftheEnlightenmentinFrance (Chicago, Abundance:ACulturalHistoryofAdvertisinginAmerica(NewYork,1994)andSomethingforNothing:LuckinAmerica(NewYork,2003),movedmoredecisivelyinthisdirection.Inthem,LearsoffersamorecomplexunderstandingoftheProtestantethicthanthatadvancedbyMaxWeber,whoidentiÞedProt-estantismasanimportantfactorintheemergenceofmoderninstrumentalrationality.InFablesofAbundance,LearshighlightstheantinomialaspectsofProtestantismthathavehelpedshapeWesternmodernity.Inadditiontoitsstressonrationalcalculation,whichWeberconsideredcentraltothedis-enchantmentoftheworld,LearspointstoacountervailingaspectofProtestantism,stemmingfromitsPietistbranch:anemphasisonsubjectivity,whichiscapableofimbuingthematerialworldwithsig-niÞcance.FablesofAbundancearguesagainstanotionofmoderndisenchantment,foranimisticten-denciescontinuetoexistinthemodernworldÑnotonlyincertainworksofeliteculture,butalsoinsomemanifestationsofmassculture,includingmodernadvertising.ModernitythusconsistsofboththeÒrational,managerialethosÓandananimisticcountertendency:ÒThroughoutthetwentiethcentury,peoplehaveimaginedalternativestothedisembodiedcorporatevisionofabundance;manyfastenedonthedetritusofcommoditycivilizationitselfastheyseekanotherwayofbeingintheworld.Bricolage,verbalorartifactual,hasbeenastrategyforreanimatingmatterÓ(10,133).AndinhishistoryoftheconceptofÒluckÓinAmericanculture,LearsdemonstratesasimilartensioninmodernAmericanculturebetweentheantinomiesofaProtestantÒcultureofcontrolÓandthemorepagan(aswellaspietisticandscientiÞc)celebrationsoftheÒcultureofchance.ÓLearsÕsworkhasbeenimplicitlyconcernedwithex-ploringthedifferentformsofspeciÞcallymodernenchantments,anticipatingthespateofrecentworksthataddressthetopicdirectly.31AnothersignofthechangingreceptiontotheconceptofmodernenchantmentcanbefoundinworksonthepoetandoccultistWilliamButlerYeats.EarlybiographiesandliterarystudiestendedtominimizeYeatsÕsprofoundandlifelonginterestintheoccult,butthetwo-volumebiographybyhistorianRoyFosterunabashedlydepictsoccultismascentraltohislifeandworkÑindeed,worthyofasubtitle:RoyFoster,W.B.Yeats:ALife,vol.1: ofwonderimaginable.DastonandParkÕsapparentconformitytothebinaryapproachcanalsobeat-tributedtotheirowndisciplinaryfocusonthemedievalandearlymodernÞelds:althoughtheydotouchverybrießyonthemodernperiod,theirsisnotahistoryofmodernenchantment.Indeed,theiranalysisofthemanyfacetsofÒwonderÓbetweenthetwelfthandthelateseventeenthcenturiesissonuancedthathadtheyattemptedanequallysustainedexaminationofthemodernperiod,onesuspectstheywouldhavequaliÞedorrejectedthebinaryapproachaltogether.Theiraccountprovidesastutecontextualanalysesoftermsthat,tomoderneyes,mightseemsocloselyre-latedastobeindistinguishable.ThereaderlearnsmuchaboutthespeciÞcmeaningsatparticulartimesofmarvels,wonders,prodigies,miracles,monstrosities,thesu-pernatural,andthepreternatural.Theprofusionofexamplesandillustrationsare world.ButtheydoarguethateliteshavedeÞneditasadisreputablepassionandconsignedittotherealmofthevulgar,whereitcontinuestoßourishwithinmassculture.Thisargumentconstitutestheirthirdinnovatorystance:theWestbecamedisenchantedinthelateseventeenthandeighteenthcenturiesbecauseofsocialfac- empiricalscienceandtheunquantiÞable,allofwhichweretobecentraltonine-teenth-andtwentieth-centuryunderstandingsofÒmodernenchantment.ÓTheirhis-toryendswithbinariesratherthanantinomies.Fortunately,DastonandParkÕshis-toryisnotreallyaboutthemodernperiod.Theirbriefconclusionsaboutmoderndisenchantmentshouldbeunderstoodasthelastgaspofthetenaciousbinaryap-proach,whereastheremainderoftheirbrilliantstudystandsasanauthoritativeaccountofpremodernenchantment.Scholarsinterestedinmodernenchantmentwoulddowelltoconsultitnotonlyfornecessarybackgroundmaterial,butasamodelofhowthesubjectcanbepursued.ThehistoriesofmodernenchantmenttowhichwenowturnmightbeconsideredinadvertentsequelstoWondersandtheOrderofNature,1150Ð1750,astheyprovideanswerstotwocriticalquestionsthatthisworkraisesaboutenchantmentintheWestsincetheeighteenthcentury.TheÞrsthastodowiththewaysmodernelitesne-gotiatedtheissueofscienceandenchantment,andthesecondhastodowithhow 706MichaelSalerAMERICANHISTORICALREVIEWJ `cleÒremainedpoisedbetweenadherencetoandrepudiationofVic-toriannaturalscience,Óincludingthoseinvolvedinpsychicalresearchandpsychol-ogy.45Mesmerism,initsmoreÒscientiÞcÓguiseofhypnotism,representedthetenseequilibriumofantinomiescharacteristicofmodernity:ÒVictorianhypnotismcon-44Ibid.,86.HequoteswithapprovalDavidBlackbournÕsassertionthatMarpingenÒdidnotrepresentaclashbetweentraditionandmodernity,butfedoffmanyconßictsofanuneven,uneasyworld.ÓBlack-bourn,Marpingen:ApparitionsoftheVirginMaryinBismarckianGermany(Oxford,1995),407;RuthHarris,Lourdes:BodyandSpiritinaSecularAge(NewYork,1999).SeealsoPeterBowler, traditionofnaturphilosophiehadnotcompletelydisappeared.Indeed,attheturnofthecentury,theidealistcurrentswererevivedinvariousformsoflebensphilosophie,renderingtheoccultistsÕpreoccupationwithaÒscientiÞcÓexplorationoftheÒsoulÓamoreintellectuallycoherententerpriseinGermanythanitwasinBritain,whichhadamoreempiricalandinductivetraditionformostofthenineteenthcentury.53ButTreiteldoesnotclaimthattheGermanoccultistswerealwaysscientiÞcwhentheywerenot,orthattheywerecommittedtoformalrationalitywhentheyweremoreinterestedinotherepistemologies.Bytheearlytwentiethcentury,manyoftheGermanoccultistsacknowledgedthattheirinterestintranscendentalstatesofcon-sciousnesswasnotalwayscompatiblewithclaimstoscientiÞcobjectivity,andfocusedinsteadonthepragmaticapplicationsoftheirownexplorationsoftheself.54Itwasthisßexiblefocusonself-knowledgeandself-realization,thecreationofaÒtran- studydoesnotoverturnthisnegativepictureofmasscultureentirely,althoughshedoesshowthatelitesnolessthanthemassesfoundmassculturetobeanimportantdomainthatgratiÞedtheiryearningsformodernwonders,andfacilitatedtheirne-gotiationoftheconßictingmeaningsofmodernity.However,otherrevisionistac-countsofmodernityandenchantmenthavegonefurther,arguingthatmasscultureitselfhasbecomethepurveyorofspeciÞcallyrationalandsecularformsofenchant-JamesW.CookÕsTheArtsofDeception:PlayingwithFraudintheAgeofBarnum,forexample,suggeststhaturbanmasscultureinAmericaduringtheantebellumperiodwasoftenself-reßexive,rational,ironical,andskepticalÑinotherwords,dis-enchanted.Butthisformofdisenchantmentalsoyieldedenchantment:showmensuchasP.T.BarnumormodernmagicianschallengedtheiraudiencestospottheirÒartfuldeceptions,Ówhichgeneratedmuchoftheentertainmentvalueoftheshows.Barnumhimselfstatedinthemid-nineteenthcentury,Òthepublicappearstobedisposedtobeamusedevenwhentheyareconsciousofbeingdeceived.Ó59JeanRobert-Houdin,whorevolutionizedthepracticeofmagicinEuropeandAmericaatthistime,similarlyconstruedmagicasaself-reßexiveformofentertainmentbydeÞningthemagicianasanactorwhoisplayingamagician.60AmericanaudienceswerechallengedbysuchwondersastheÒFeejeeMermaidÓortheÒautomatonchessplayerÓtodeterminewhethertheywerereal,andifnot,howsuchlifelikeillusionswerecreated.Inthisway,masscultureelicitedthecognitivepassionofwonderdis-cussedbyDastonandPark,inwhichnoveltiesstimulatecuriosity,thesatisfactionofwhichisendlesslydeferredbytheproductionofnewwonders.Cookdemonstrateshowshowmenexpertlymanipulatedthenewmassmedia,suchasnewspapers,topromotedebatesabouttheauthenticityoftheirexhibits,yieldingÒanew,media-drivenformofcuriosityÑperpetuallyexcited,yetneverfullysatisÞed.Ó61Further,hearguesthattheseenchantmentsinculcatedintheiraudiencesanironicandskepticaloutlook.MassculturepromotedEnlightenmentrationalityratherthaneclipsedit,involvingÒenchantmentanddisenchantment,energeticpublicexpose 712MichaelSalerAMERICANHISTORICAL partofournormalcondition,andfar