The waterless sea : a curious history of mirages
Bibliographie
- Auteurs : Pinney Christopher (1959-....) ;
- Editeurs : London Reaktion Books ;
- Date d'édition : 2018
- ISBN : 978-1-78023-932-3, 1-78023-932-7
- Sujets : Mirages -- Histoire, Optique météorologique
- Langue(s) : Anglais
- Description matérielle : 1 vol. (184 p.), : Ill., couv. ill. en coul., 22 cm
- Pays de publication : Royaume-Uni
Notes
Notes bibliogr. p. 151-168. Index
Résumé
Le rabat de la jaquette indique : 'Mirages have long astonished travelers of the sea and beguiled thirsty desert voyagers. Chinese and Japanese poetry and images depicted mirages as the exhalations of clam-monsters. Indian sources related them to the 'thirst of gazelles,' a metaphor for the futility of desire. From the late eighteenth century to the present, mirages became a symbol of 'Oriental despotis,' a malign, but also enchanted, emblem. But the mirage motif is rarely simply condemnatory. More commonly it 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.'