Courses

This graduate seminar situates the study of African masks within a much larger theoretical literature on masquerading. The figure of “the mask” has played a surprisingly important, albeit unacknowledged, role in 20th century criticism in everything from theories of play, performance, gender performance, and the carnivalesque. In addition, the mask keeps reappearing in 20th century avant-garde practice, in painting, in photography, in theatre, and installation displays. Our goal is to examine African practice with fresh eyes and more sophisticated questions after having appraised the impact of Western assumptions on the representation of African masquerade.