The Work of Enchantment suggests that it is a lack of "enchantment"
in rich, developed countries that causes soul-starved Westerners to
experience mental (and sometimes physical) illness. Del Nevo argues
that this "enchantment" is most often experienced in childhood, but
can also be found in adulthood, particularly through art. However,
adults must cultivate within themselves the ability to appreciate
art by reading, listening, and gazing activities often misconceived
in advanced industrial societies. Del Nevo describes the framework
of enchantment and its philosophical and historical roots. He then
concentrates on the work of enchantment within literature,
considering what enchantment might entail taking the works of
Proust, Rilke, and Goethe as examples. Del Nevo shows how a sense
of enchantment forms within and between art works, using his
literary examples, as well as between the work and the audience.
The reader will learn along the way that enchantment may be found
in the power of words, as an expression of the desire of the soul,
a compliment of melancholy, and in art that points to something
beyond itself. Enchantment may be found in many places, ranging
from philosophy, religion, and psychology to sociology and culture,
but here Del Nevo focuses on literature. His audience is people who
are searching for something beyond money or glamour perhaps the
meaning of art and culture. His focus on literary masterpieces such
as the Duino Elegies, Remembrance of Things Past, Wilhelm Meister's
Journeyman Years, and others will make it of interest to those in
cultural studies. Well written and engaging, and accessible to
non-specialist readers, this unusual work in philosophy and
aesthetics is free of jargon and complicated verbiage. Inspiring
and enlivening, it is, in the author's words, "a stirring call to
idleness."
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