Full Description
For at least 20,000 years, masking has been a mark of cultural evolution and an indication of magical-religious sophistication in society.
This book provides a comprehensive understanding of the mask as a powerful cultural phenomenon--a means by which human groupings attempted to communicate their dignity and sense of purpose, as well as establish a continuum between the natural and supernatural worlds. It addresses the distinctive environments within which masks flourished, and analyzes the mask as a manifestation of art, ethnology and anthropology.
Contents
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
1. Symbolic Mutilation
2. Substitute Faces
3. Cultural Signs
4. Ingenious Expression
5. Masks, Magic, and Power
6. Mystic Assumptions
7. Masks as Communal Symbols
8. Masks as Couriers of Myths
9. Shape-Shifting Faces
10. Somatic Metamorphosis
11. Dramatic Apparitions
12. Masking the Other Face
Notes to the Captions
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
About the Drawings
Index
