Magic and the Aesthetic Illusion

The aesthetic illusion is the subjective experience that the content of a work of art is reality. It has an intrinsic relation to magic, an intrapsychic maneuver oriented toward modification and control of the extraspyschic world, principally through ego functioning. Magic is ontogenetically and culturally archaic, expresses the omnipotence inherent in primary narcissism, and operates according to the logic of the primary process. Magic is a constituent of all ego functioning, usually latent in later development. It may persist as an archaic feature or may be evoked regressively in global or circumscribed ways. It causes a general disinhibition of instincts and impulses attended by a sense of confidence, exhiliration, and exuberance. The aesthetic illusion is a combination of illusions: (1) that the daydream embodied by the work of art is the beholder's own, the artist being ignored, and (2) that the artistically described protagonist is a real person with a real “world.” The first illusion arises through the beholder's emotional-instinctual gratification from his or her own fantasy-memory constellations; the second comes about because the beholder, by taking the protagonist as proxy, mobilizes the subjective experience of the imaginary protagonist's `reality.` The first illusion is necessary for the second to take place; the second establishes the aesthetic illusion proper. Both illusions are instances of magic. Accordingly, the aesthetic illusion is accompanied by a heady experience of excitement and euphoria. The relation among the aesthetic illusion, magic, and enthusiasm is illustrated by an analytic case, J. D. Salinger's `The Laughing Man,` Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam, Don Quixote, and the medieval Cult of the Saints

Aesthetics · Art · Cognitive psychology · Epistemology · Id, ego and super-ego · Illusion · MAGIC (telescope) · Psychoanalysis · The Imaginary · Unconscious mind · Verisimilitude · American and British Literature Analysis · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Philosophy · Poetry Analysis and Criticism · Psychology

• Le concept d’immersion

  Antonio Rafele•Sociétés•2019

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• Silent Cries, Dancing Tears

  Open Access•Anna Aragno•Journal of the American…•2011

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• Transfigurations

  Open Access•Sien Rivera•Journal of the American…•2025

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• Endnote To Termination and Renaissance

  Open Access•Joseph Caston•Journal of the American…•2007

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• The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus

  Christopher Marlowe•Six Renaissance Tragedies•1997

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• Legend, Myth, and Magic in the Image of the Artist

  G W Granger, Ernst Kris et al.•Leonardo•1980

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• Madness and Lust

  John G Weiger, Carroll B Johnson•Hispania•1984

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• The Golden Bough

  Open Access•James George Frazer•The Golden Bough•1922

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• On Preconscious Mental Processes

  Ernst Kris•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•1950

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• Don Quixote and Don Quixotism

  Helene Deutsch•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•1937

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• The Principle of Multiple Function

  Robert Wälder•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•1936

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• Fantasy, Memory, and Reality Testing

  Jacob A Arlow•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•2018

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• Madness and Lust

  Norman N Holland, Norman Holland et al.•Hispanic Review•1985

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• On The Aesthetic Illusion

  Open Access•Leon Baiter•Journal of the American…•1999

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• Freudian Biology, Magic, and Religion

  Open Access•Weston La Barre•Journal of the American…•1978

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• Unconscious Fantasy and Disturbances of Conscious Experience

  Jacob A Arlow•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•1969

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• Stolen Lightning

  Ralph W Hood, Daniel Lawrence O''Keefe et al.•Sociological Analysis•1982

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• The Cult of the Saints

  Peter Brown, Peter Robert Lamont Brown•Cult of the Saints•1982

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