UID:
almafu_9961417114102883
Format:
1 online resource (xiv, 397 pages) :
,
illustrations
Edition:
First edition.
ISBN:
9781805430957
,
1805430955
Series Statement:
Western Africa series
Content:
Explores the dynamics of African masquerades and mask performances on the continent, linking performative expressions to societal characteristics.
Note:
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 22 Feb 2024).
,
Intro -- Table of Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Enter the mask -- The study of masking -- Structure of the book -- The Mask Crescent: Distribution of Masks and Masking in Africa -- 1. Mask Distribution and Theory -- Masking zones -- Theoretical approach -- Parameters of masking -- Profiles of masking societies -- The zebu exclusion -- Methodology -- 2. What is a Mask? -- Explaining masks: The Magritte effect -- A basic mask typology -- Bush, spirits, ancestors, and other people -- Masks and power -- Tradition, prototype, and invention -- Conclusion -- 3. Masks and Masculinity: Initiation -- Chewing the mask -- Separation from the mother -- Liminal revelation -- Mask and circumcision -- Symbols of gender: Death and food -- Communitas and age -- Masks and masculinities -- Conclusion -- 4. Secrecy and Power -- Writing on the mask -- Dimensions of secrecy -- Initiation societies and the empty secret -- The sound of secrecy -- Ethics, society, and secrecy -- Conclusion -- 5. Death and its Masks -- Singing at the mask -- Burial and the farewells -- Burial by masks -- The funeral as initiation -- The individual and society at funerals -- Masks and the second funeral -- Celebrating life -- Conclusion -- 6. Women: Pivot of the Masks -- The first mask -- Gender domains -- Celebrating femininity -- Women dancing with masks -- The mask of the woman is her body -- Conclusion -- 7. Masks and Politics -- Masks for father -- Masks and the history of the patriline -- Feasting the sultan -- The mask as king -- Initiation, masks, and regicide -- Masquerades and modern politics -- Conclusion: The Akan Gap -- 8. Masks and the Order of Things -- Masks in the field -- Masks and the adjudication of law -- The discourse on witchcraft -- Masks versus 'witches' -- 'Uncovering witchcraft': A mask performance abroad -- 'War masks'.
,
Conclusion -- 9. Masks and Modernity -- Playful sharks in the Delta -- Theatre at Cross River -- The king of masks, the elephant of masks -- Masks for new audiences -- Masks as icons of ethnic identity -- Heritage, icon, and commodity -- Conclusion -- 10. Memories of Power, Power of Memories -- Arrest that mask! -- Satire, the weapon of the weak -- Masquerades and the slaving state -- From Africa to the African diaspora -- Conclusion -- 11. Conclusion -- The cultural niche for masquerades -- A future for masks? -- Bibliography -- Sources for Ethnographic Cases -- Picture Credits -- Index.
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9781847013439
Additional Edition:
ISBN 1847013430
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1515/9781805430957
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