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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Current Directions in the Study of Masking in Africa
Author:Adams, Monni (Marie-Jeanne)
Year:1987
Periodical:Africana Journal
Volume:14
Issue:2-3
Pages:89-114
Language:English
Geographic terms:West Africa
Africa
Subjects:masks
masquerades
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Architecture and the Arts
Abstract:A far more penetrating view of masking as a significant and complex mechanism in African societies is emerging as a result of new approaches incorporating structuralism and systems and communications theories adopted by anthropologists, while art scholars have added a period of extensive fieldwork in Africa to their museum studies. Four new books, each focusing on the masquerade complex of a single cultural group, indicate the main directions of research by art historians on African masking. Two, 'Art and death in a Senufo village' by Anita GLAZE, and 'Gelede: art and female power among the Yoruba' by Henry and Margaret DREWAL, follow a historical and functional approach. The other two, 'Baule art as the expression of a world view' by Susan VOGEL, and 'Dogon masks: a structural study of form and meaning' by Barbara DEMOTT, offer analyses with a structuralist emphasis. The author focuses on each book in relative detail, as well as reviewing anthologies and articles from various disciplines. She suggests that the greatest need is additional publication of thorough studies of the specific situations of masking. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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