Material Culture, Socio-Cultural Anthropology - General & Miscellaneous
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Overview
Masks are a near-universal phenomenon, but the uses and meanings of masquerade vary greatly among cultures. Here, through revealing texts and a wide range of dramatic illustrations, a team of experts discusses the disparate traditions surrounding masks in eight principal areas: Africa, Oceania, Latin America, the Pacific northwest, Japan, classical Greece and Rome, Egypt, and Europe.Editorials
Alice Joyce
A mask is a mask, or is it? A visual feast of 150 remarkable objects is an integral feature of this expansive survey delving into the rich and complex traditions that have determined uses and meanings of masks from countless archaic cultures right up to modern-day festivals. An imposing, highly sculptural elephant mask of the Cameroon exists in marked contrast to the relatively restrained but highly expressive Japanese No theater masks. Materially enchanting Oceanic masks adorned with feathers, shells, or bark cloth are constructed of intricate basketry and carved wood, and Central and South American masks encrusted with rare stones are cast or carved of solid jade or stone. Ethnographic scholars elaborate on rituals and mythologies associated with these wondrous masks in this articulate and provocative inquiry.Book Details
Published
January 1, 1980
Publisher
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Pages
224
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780810936416