Folk Illusions as Emic, Educational Prompt

Abstract

It is well established that illusions—when considered as a part of perceptual experience—facilitate learning. Visit the juvenile nonfiction section of educational books on illusions at your local library, and you will find a plethora of texts aimed at teaching youths about the wonders of perceptual oddities with titles like Now You See It—Now You Don’t, Amazing Optical Illusions, Seeing Is Believing, Awesome Optical Illusions, Cool Optical Illusions. In those books, you will find many textual performances of a well-worn, literary trope I call the Illusion-Surprise.