African Masks and Emotions – In Theory and in Practice : In Theory and in Practice

In this open-access text, Z.S. Strother uses ethnographic studies of individual mask cultures in Africa to dispute the assumptions that masks universally hide, reveal, or transform.

Z. S. Strother is a leading scholar focused on African masquerade, making this book a must-read for anyone with interest in African art and African expressive culture. With engaging text and brilliant analyses, Masks and Emotions spotlights a significantly understudied area: the role of emotion in African art. This book is accessible and thought-provoking to both general and specialized audiences interested in masks and masquerading. Strother grounds her work in her extensive fieldwork with the Pende, offering original and nuanced perspectives. In Western European languages, the word mask exerts a powerful presence as a figure of speech. To masquerade is to pretend to be someone or something one is not. By extension, unmasking is a heroic metaphor for exposing a hidden truth. In this volume, art historian Z. S. Strother counters that narrative, using African case studies to offer an alternative vision of masquerading. She explores the aesthetic emotions aroused by masks, or more precisely, by “dances of masks”: joy, wonder, awe, fear, and the release of laughing out loud. She also investigates the uncanny—a sensation of “delicious shiveriness” triggered when familiar spaces and individuals become strange and changeable. Inspired by Strother’s studies in DR Congo, African Masks and Emotions takes a comparative perspective and moves emotion from theperiphery to the center of analysis. Reflecting Getty's commitment to open content, African Masks and Emotions isavailable for free download in ePub and PDF formats at: https://www.getty.edu/publications-reports/item/2F27A4. This paperback edition is available for sale for readers who wish to have a bound reference copy.