The Waterless Sea : A Curious History of Mirages
Overview
Mirages have long astonished travelers of the sea and beguiled thirsty desert voyagers. Traditional Chinese and Japanese poetry and art depict the above-horizon, superior mirage, or fata morgana, as exhalations of clam-monsters. Indian sources relate mirages to the "thirst of gazelles," a metaphor for the futility of desire. Starting in the late eighteenth century, mirages became a symbol in the West of Oriental despotism--a negative, but also enchanted, emblem. But the mirage motif is rarely simply condemnatory. More often, our obsession with mirages conveys a sense of escape, of fascination, of a desire to be deceived. The Waterless Sea is the first book devoted to the theories and history of mirages. Christopher Pinney navigates a sinuous pathway through a mysterious and evanescent terrain, showing how mirages have impacted politics, culture, science, and religion--and how we can continue to learn from their sublimity.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9781780239323
- ISBN-10: 1780239327
- Publisher: Reaktion Books
- Publish Date: July 2018
- Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.05 pounds
- Page Count: 184
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