Plato's Book of Secrets: Spectacle, Technology, and Rhetoric from the Medieval Islamicate World

FAIN: FEL-288539-23

Sarah Ortega
Unaffiliated independent scholar

Research and writing towards a critical edition, translation, and analysis of the Kitab al-nawamis ’Afla?un (Plato’s Book of Secrets), a medieval manual for performing spectacles.   

My book will examine the Kitab al-nawamis ’Afla?un (Plato’s Book of Secrets), a collection of recipes for facilitating extraordinary visual experiences. Constructed in Iraq during the 9th century and circulating among communities of Muslims, Christians, and Jews until the 15th century, it is often described as a work exemplifying the dangers and folly of medieval magic. My study shows that this text adheres to a program that engages with Islamic rhetorical traditions and responds to broader questions about ‘Abbasid society. Furthermore, its individual recipes are constructed in accordance with established scientific theories, technologies, and practices. The text ultimately emerges as a dynamic space in which its creator and subsequent readers speculated on the potentialities of technology, navigated the cultural conditions through which visual information is processed, and anticipated the ability of such technologies to transform individuals and the social landscapes they occupy.