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Masquerades in African society : gender, power, and identity / Walter E.A. van Beek and Harrie M. Leyten.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Beek, W. E. A. van, author.
- Leyten, Harrie M., author.
- Series:
- Western Africa series
- Western Africa Series
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Masquerades--Africa.
- Masquerades.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource.
- Place of Publication:
- Woodbridge, Suffolk : James Currey, 2023.
- Contents:
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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'
- 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
- 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
- 11. Conclusion
- The cultural niche for masquerades
- A future for masks?
- Bibliography
- Sources for Ethnographic Cases
- Picture Credits
- Index
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Electronic reproduction. Berlin Available via World Wide Web.
- Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on December 11, 2023).
- Other Format:
- Print version: Van Beek, Walter E. A. Masquerades in African Society
- ISBN:
- 9781805430957
- 1805430955
- Publisher Number:
- 99996660051
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license.
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