| Description |
1 online resource (xiv, 397 pages) : illustrations |
| Series |
Western Africa Series |
|
Western Africa series.
|
| 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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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A future for masks? -- Bibliography -- Sources for ethnographic cases -- Picture credits -- Index |
| Summary |
Explores the dynamics of African masquerades and mask performances on the continent, linking performative expressions to societal characteristics |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (JSTOR, viewed on December 11, 2023) |
| Subject |
Masquerades -- Africa
|
|
Masquerades
|
|
Africa
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| Author |
Leyten, Harrie M., author.
|
| ISBN |
1805430955 |
|
9781805430957 |
|
