Toward a theory of exposure

This is the final version. Available from University of Huddersfield Press via the DOI in this record. ; Excited attention towards the disclosure of methods – what is termed ‘exposure’– infuses both popular and practitioners’ portrayals of entertainment magic. As an art associated with ‘doing the impossible’, the disclosure of methods is widely held as ruining the prospects for experiencing astonishment. For all its familiarity, however, exposure is rarely subject to extended consideration in the thoughts and theories of professional magicians. In line with a tradition of conceiving of magic as a form of social interaction constituted through the relations between audiences and performers, this article offers a theorization of exposure; one grounded in empirical research with magicians. Varied notions of ‘boundary work’ are engaged which provide means for doing justice to the nuances of what it means to expose the secrets of magic. As an intervention into ongoing debates about what counts as appropriate conduct, the ultimate aim of the article is to help re-imagine what is at stake in conjuring.