Introduction
Enter the mask
The study of masking
Structure of the book The Masking 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
Conclusion 5. Death and its Masks
Singing at the mask
Burial and the farewells
Burial by masks
Funeral as initiation
Individual and society in funerals
Masks and the second funeral
Celebrating life
Conclusion 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
Conclusion 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'
Conclusion 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
Conclusion 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
Conclusion 11. Conclusion
The cultural niche for masquerades
A future for masks? Bibliography Sources for ethnographic cases Picture credits Index

Inhaltsangabe