Transparent Masks

The Ideology and Practice of Disguise in Contemporary Cajun Mardi Gras

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3013398
AutoresPatricia Sawin (autor correspondente)
Ano2001
Volume114
Fascículo452
Páginas175-203
Data de publicação2001-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of American Folklore (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0021-8715 • E-ISSN: 1535-1882
EditoraProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/jaf.2001.0006
OpenAlexW2133348136
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas9

Stories and prescriptive statements recorded from participants in Cajun country Mardi Gras, as well as standard scholarly descriptions, insist that complete disguise is essential. However, actual masking practice varies between groups and among members of each group. I reject the claim that the tradition is truly degenerating and interpret statements about disguise as rhetorical moves. These portray Mardi Gras as promoting community cohesion and thus defend it against detractors' negative characterizations. Alternate masking practices articulate contemporary visions of a changing community and link participants to new audiences not seen as legitimate in older conceptions

Aesthetics · Art · Cohesion (chemistry · Ideology · Literature · Masking (illustration · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Vision · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Law · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies