Mask Essay-Culture Analysis

Posted on 29/03/2011 by theblogofcarlos

Research Assignment: Masks

Introduction:

Masks and their usage are iconic worldwide, and there is not a single continent on earth that has not made use of masks at some stage in their history. Four major mask cultures are those of the Igbo, the Venetians, the well-known Japanese Noh theatre, and an often overlooked mask using culture: the Mexicans.  While

Masks of the Igbo:

The Igbo are an African Tribe that live in what is now South-Eastern Nigeria, and are predominantly a Farming society. Like many tribal societies, they place a large emphasis on the power and importance of a pantheon of Gods and ancestral spirits, and masks are a very important ritualistic element of this religious culture, as is dance. In addition to this, they are also the most common form of entertainment in traditional society-in this sense, religion and entertainment are somewhat interchangeable[1]. In fact, it can easily be said that masks are one of the most critical components of Igbo culture. The function of the mask for the Igbo is chiefly to act as the incarnation of dead ancestors, who are believed to play an active role in the affairs of the living, and this concept has been actualised to such an extent by the Igbo people that their theatre is composed hugely of interactions between the living and the dead, and has developed a unique, unusual dualism. Another function of the mask is the representation of Spirits and supernatural deities. The Igbo believe that spirits are capable of animating any material object, and the mask provides a very vivid form of signification. The purpose of the mask is as it is in contemporary theatre: It provides a direct means by which the performer becomes the character that they are trying to portray, and allows them to very easily adopt the characteristics of that character (or as it commonly is for the Igbo: spirit[2]).

Types of Igbo Masks: The sheer multitude of Igbo masks does not allow for a concise list to be made of all the different kinds of mask. However, they can loosely be grouped under what predominant characteristics they are supposed to represent.

  • Agbogho Odo (Maiden Spirit): chastity and elegance
  • Ijele: Nobility and Wealth
  • Agaba-Idu (Lion): Force, violence, and uncontrollability
  • Belle: Comic Spirit
  • Oganachi: Ugliness, Moral Deformity
  • Okumkpo: Rectitude
  • Nwaotam (“wonder”):The “wonderful” or supernatural, Magical power-arguably one of the most integral type of mask culturally.
  • Amadi Odo: Ancestral wisdom-another mask of great importance.

It is of note that certain aspects of Igbo spiritual theatre reflect the dramatic opinions of professional experts in today’s society: an example is that it is a compulsory tradition for mask wearing performers to cover their entire head whilst wearing a mask, because the head is believed to be a gateway to the soul: by covering the head completely, only the soul of the mask is allowed to manifest externally. A similar idea, albeit with a different purpose, is that it is a widely accepted fact that masks are more effective when worn with some form of covering-and it does serve a somewhat similar purpose: the actor’s features and personality are suppressed under the covering, allowing only the mask’s features to dominate the performance.

Venetian Masks:

The Venetian mask is a very well-known image in the European world, and the usage of masks in Venice is very old-not as old as most of the theatrical forms of mask usage, but historical nonetheless. The Venetian masks are interesting in particular due to the fact that they are so significant but have very little-if any-religious or theatrical application. Mask usage in Venice began to rise in the 13th century, when Venice was an independent republic, but was quite rich, due mostly to businesses and Taxation of trade moving through Europe. The wearing of masks began as a way of maintaining anonymity in what was a relatively small city. The high amount of wealth in the area meant that many people found themselves striking deals that were in some way unlawful or perhaps potentially socially damaging. In addition to this, the wearing of masks removed connotations of class-lower class Venetians could be mistaken for upper class, and vice versa. Unfortunately, the inconspicuous nature of this arrangement led to a variety of forms of excess, and so the use of Masks became limited-however, they are still and integral part of Venetian culture and have a strong association with the city.

Common types of Venetian Mask[3]:

  • Capitano: a half mask with a pointed nose, covering the top half of the face. Usually worn by men.
  • Jolly Mask: one of the most instantly recognisable Venetian masks, it resembles a Jester and always has brightly coloured curls, typically with a bell.
  • Gatto: resembles a cat, and is usually brightly coloured.
  • Columbina: only covers the eyes, and is usually held in place with a rod. Often incorporates plumes.
  • Batau mask: squared at the top and pointed at the bottom. It is traditionally worn with a tricorn hat and cape.

Japanese Noh Masks:

The Japanese use masks in a number of different ways. For one, there was for thousands of years the use of masks in warfare (worn by the Samurai to frighten the enemy, and to great effect). In addition to this, there is the use of masks in theatre. Many different aspects of Japanese theatre use masks, but the most prominent mask-using theatrical tradition is Noh Theatre. Noh masks are an extremely important element of the Japanese performance: in a somewhat similar way to the Igbo, the Japanese believed that the mask held spiritual power that a performer could not gain from simply applying makeup. The function of the mask in Japanese theatre is very interesting. Before going onstage, the actor playing the lead role would sit in front of a mirror, examining his own reflection, and it is said that the reflection (believed to be another self, or a different person) melds into the actor’s own personal self, forming one. At the same time, it also helps to remove the aspect of specific characterisation: the emotions felt by the character become more generalised-anger becomes just “anger” instead of a person’s anger.

There are a huge number of Noh Masks, but they all fall under a few broad categories. These categories are presented below[4]:

  • Okina: Old man masks. They are also the oldest type of Noh mask in general.
  • Jō: Elders masks. Often used for when the main character is portraying a spirit
  • Onna-men: masks portraying women. This is the most common and varied type of Noh mask, and is the mask most commonly identified with Noh theatre.
  • Otoko-men: Masks portaying men: these are also quite numerous, but not as well-known as the Onna-Men
  • Kishin: Demons. As the name suggests, these masks portray demons, goblins, or other forms of fantasy beings. There are two main types of these masks: Tobide, which are fierce demons, and beshimi, which are goblins and other smaller creatures.
  • Onryo: Ghosts and spirits. These are both male and female and are used to represent spirits that are regretful.

Masks in the Mexican Region:

An often overlooked area with mask related research is the application of masks for a wide variety of purposes in Central America. Mexico in particular has a very interesting range of applications for the mask. For one, the mask in Mexico is very old: civilisations in the area have been using masks from roughly circa 3000 BC. The use of masks by these cultures was to summon the power of deities, and they also played a role in the sacrifices that Mexican culture performed pre-Spanish occupation. On the Spaniard’s arrival, the Spanish themselves-now regrettably worth recognising as a major faculty of Mexican culture-used masks to educate the local people on Christian faith. They were also used by the Spanish in impressive masked combat performances, designed to awe the native populations. In Mexico today, masks are used traditionally to honour particular Public holidays (Saint’s day, major Christian holidays, etc.) and one of the most mentionable of these festivals is the world famous Day of the Dead (often referred to in the original Spanish: “Dia de Los Muertos”)-renowned for its mask usage to represent the return of the dead to the living.  However, they are also used today largely as collector’s items to decorate homes, or as items of interest. Lastly, it is entertaining to note the prominent use of masks in Mexican wrestling: Lucha Libre-it is very common (and would indeed be very uncommon not) for wrestlers to wear masks that cover the entire face, tied at the back.

The vastly different number of Mexican masks and their different applications over history meant that a broad classification was needed: a short list of some of the types of masks that exist in the country is present[5]:

  • Dancing Masks: the folk art of Mexico involves many elaborate dancing masks. These usually take the form of animals or demons, but the design of the masks is very varied. They are usually richly coloured and have a lot of facial detail.
  • Day of the Dead Masks: traditionally papier-maché, and are usually an exaggerated skull-however, the way in which the skulls are decorated is very creative, and can involve the use of flowers, paint, etc. (as shown in the picture to the right).
  • Wrestling Masks: are always brightly coloured, and lace up at the back of the head. The mask and its colour often become an integral part of a Wrestler’s persona.

Cultural Comparison:

It is very clear examining the various cultures that are presented that there are two aspects of mask usage that are quite common. The first of these is the ever present ritual and spiritual aspect of the mask, which manifests itself in several different areas but is essentially the same concept. For the Igbo, the mask is supposedly used by the dead ancestors of the living to manifest themselves, and is a through-line to the realm of the physical for these ancestors and gods, along with other forms of spirits. This is very, very similar, albeit not as literal, in Mexican tradition, where the wearing of masks on the day of the dead. There is also an aspect, not specifically of deity manifestation, but of representation in Noh theatre, with its large supernatural presence-and Noh also incorporates the idea of the mask possessing its own personality, per say, which does manifest as a union of the mask and the actor. In fact, the only culture studied that does not use the mask for religious reasons at all is the Venetians, who are quite unique in their use of the mask solely as what is essentially a social item and means of anonymity.

The second uniform aspect of mask usage is that it is considered by all cultures to either possess or imbue upon the wearer some form of power. of course, for the Venetians this imbuing was very obvious and literal-they gained the power of namelessness and the ability to do as they wished with no negative backlash. However, in the other cultures this power seems mainly to be spiritual and focussed on the mask itself, not its wearer-as is previously mentioned, when the mask was put on by the performer it was believed for Noh practitioners and the Igbo that essentially, the wearer ceased to exist and actually became the character/deity/ancestor it represented (or a fusion of the two, as in Noh).

The use of masks for ancestral respect and portrayal is also a link found between Igbo and one of the Mexican uses of masks: the Mexican Day of the Dead uses masks to portray the dead returning to walk among the living, and the Igbo also have masks used to represent Ancestors that return to the living.

Personal Mask Response

Having acted-only briefly-in masked theatre, certain aspects of the masks that the various cultures mention can be verified. There is definitely a feeling of a power transfer that is gained when donning a mask-one immediately feels both protected and somewhat uncontrolled at the same time. It also aids the acting of emotions, because one must use body language to communicate emotions, which inevitably leads to them being more abstract than they would be if using facial expression. In addition to this, it is very true that when using a mask, the actor habitually adopts the characteristics of the mask in their behaviour, much like the Igbo claim (and the Noh performers, to some extent). This is also entirely, of course, through body language. Their use as a tool of indiscretion is somewhat uncertain-this is partly due to the context of the mask usage (a performance space, not the street).

Bibliography:

 

Critique of Sources:

Crumrine N.R and Halpin M, The Power of Symbols: masks and masquerades in the Americas, University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, 1983.

Crumine and Halpin’s book on Mexican traditional and native mask usage was very useful in acquiring information on the roles of mask pre-modern era: it was very difficult to find information on the internet about this aspect of Mexican masks due to the overwhelming amount of other material (it was obviously much easier to find information on Day of the Dead, for example). Essentially, this book addressed the more remote and ritual aspects of masks in Mexican culture.

Enekwe, O.O, Igbo Masks: The Oneness of Ritual and Theatre, Nigeria Magazine, Lagos, 1987

Igbo Masks was a book that I found absolutely invaluable in acquiring information on the Igbo people’s culture, and it provided, in great detail, descriptions of the types of masks that the Igbo used both broadly and in detail, and (as the title suggests) it portrayed clearly the relationship between entertainment and religion in Igbo society-the two are clearly interchangeable and so closely linked that study of one is virtually impossible without study of the other. It also provided a clear and detailed description of the mask’s function, and basically provided all the information necessary for the assignment. However, the only thing, unfortunately, that was not present, were pictures of each of the mask types as were found in several of the other sources, and it would have been helpful to provide these or at least a description of the appearances of the masks so as to enable them to be found elsewhere-this proved so difficult that it could not be achieved. This I attributed mainly to the diverse nature of the Igbo masks-while not as individualised as the Mexican ones, there were certainly an ambiguous amount of the different masks, making it difficult to discern between them.

  • Lamarque, P, ‘Expression and the Mask: The Dissolution of Personality in Noh’, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol 1., No 1, 1941, retrieved 27/3/2011, International Index to Performing Arts

 

Lamarque’s journal article, although only a few paragraphs were used, was pivotal in an understanding of the function of the Noh mask, its role in the theatrical performance, and the relationship between the mask and the wearer. It was from this source that the information about the unification of the Mask’s character and the wearer’s character was gained. The purpose of the mask was also explained in detail, and how it removes the personal factor from emotional portrayal during performance, creating a more universal characterisation, rather than a specific one. Overall, provided much of the theatrical understand for the reason for Noh masks in the performance.

 

This source was fairly self-explanatory: it gave a very good summary of the various types of masks present in Venetian culture. As would be expected of such a culture, most of the description of the masks discussed fashion (what was worn with it) or simply a description. This site also provided, very usefully, images of said mask designs-I believed these to be very good images and as such used them in the same context as they were displayed on the Website. Although eHow is not an official document as such, it was still quite useful.

 

Mask Italia, although an online store for purchasing Venetian masks, also happened to have a very detailed and clear description of the historical context of Venetian masks in the culture of the Venetian Republic, and their uses today. It provided a comprehensive history of the use of masks, along with the reasons for these uses and the reasons for the subsequent diminishing (but not disappearance) of mask usage in Venice. This was the source providing the function of Venetian masks in society, and the purpose of the wearers of the mask. One thing that may be of question is the validity of the knowledge put forth in the article: although it did not conflict with the other Venetian information that I found.

 

“The Noh” was, I found, a very useful website for acquiring information about the classifications of the various Noh masks and some background information on the English translations of the Japanese words. The site also contained wonderful images of each individual mask type that included captions, and this site was the source of my images of each type of Noh mask as well as the definitions. There was no specific author visible anywhere on the web-page, but it did have a page referring to a number of experts in the field: backstage professionals, cultural experts, etc.

 

Once again eHow, this page was very useful in providing a very brief summary of the generalised types of Mexican Masks used, and the roles and function of each.  It also provided useful pictures of each type of mask, again, that I used in my Investigation.

 

Although it was essentially the background information page for a museum exhibit, the Masks of Mexico internet page had a very useful summary of the usage of masks throughout Mexican history, and in particular included information of the Spanish contribution to this mask usage. It also provided a useful description of how the different forms of mask culture had combined to form the modern Mexican mask culture. Also, this source (being an official University of Arizona page) was obviously very reliable.

[1] Enekwe, O.O, Igbo Masks: The Oneness of Ritual and Theatre, Nigeria Magazine, Lagos, 1987

[2] Enekwe, O.O, Igbo Masks: The Oneness of Ritual and Theatre, Nigeria Magazine, Lagos, 1987

 

 

 

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