Prophetic performatives: the New Age's pending efficacy through self-prophecy
This paper broadens the limited area of scholarship on New Age spiritualism by providing and explanation for the suasive force of one of its main themes, the ‘Law of Attraction'. Rhonda Byrne's The Secret, is utilised as emblematic of the doctrine, where the individual is seen to engage in...
| Published in: | Culture and religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor and Francis Group
[2018]
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| In: |
Culture and religion
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Byrne, Rhonda 1951-, The secret
/ New Age
/ Law of attraction (Esotericism)
/ Prophecy
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| RelBib Classification: | AZ New religious movements |
| Further subjects: | B
performative speech acts
B fetish B The Secret B Law of attraction B Prophecy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | This paper broadens the limited area of scholarship on New Age spiritualism by providing and explanation for the suasive force of one of its main themes, the ‘Law of Attraction'. Rhonda Byrne's The Secret, is utilised as emblematic of the doctrine, where the individual is seen to engage in a dynamic similar to that of classical predictive prophecy, with the role of prophet being internalised. Three elements discussed are the positioning of the prophet, prophecy's temporal ambiguity, and its linguistic tense. This paper suggests that the Law of Attraction re-imagines and employs the predictive prophetic structure and suggests that such a belief can act as a fetish. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-5629 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Culture and religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2018.1444652 |