Veiled Self, Transparent Meanings
Tuareg Headdress as Social Expression
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2733261 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Susan J Rasmussen (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1991 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 101 |
| Publication date | 1991-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ethnology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0014-1828 • E-ISSN: 2160-3510 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/3773404 |
| OpenAlex | W2275288865 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 10 |
Many societies display a concern with the human head as central to personal and social identity. Treated as a dominant part of the body symbolically in art and literature, it often denotes the leader or chief, and has other connotations. A special sanctity is associated with the head, believed to be the seat or center of spiritual forces. Many authors point out that this central focus is influenced by concepts of the body and self as well as modes of perception (Biebuyck and Van den Abeele 1984:21-23; Seeger 1981; Borker 1978; Ben-Amos 1976). For this reason, the human head and its elaboration lend themselves well to recent anthropological interest in negotiation of meaning and personhood. The natural body is shaped into a cultural entity to convey different messages about the person. The elaborate care and adornment of the head suggests its extraordinary, metonymic significance. More than iconic, this significance has a vitality derived from everyday experience, so studies of head adornment need to be integrated closely with social organization and process. Here I seek to illuminate the significance of Tuareg headwear and the processes by which its meanings are constructed. This task requires examining headdress in context as social practice, rather than in isolation as static icon. Tuareg practices provide insights into these processes in the dynamics of men's faceveiling and women's headcovering. This article examines the role of headdress in the social construction of self among a seminomadic herding, gardening, and caravanning, socially stratified, Moslem people: the Kel Ewey Tuareg of northeastern Niger.1 Relations between the sexes are examined through the meaning of the women's headscarf (afar) and its male counterpart, the faceveil (tagelmust). In addition, I briefly consider female inversion of these practices: faceveiling during possession trance exorcism rituals. Why Tuareg women wear headscarves and men faceveils, how these headdresses contribute to everyday construction of person, and what constitutes their meaning as social experience are of central concern here. For both men and women, covering the head connotes transition in jural status and separating individual goals from group responsibilities. This takes the form of hiding personal sentiments, the literal and intended effect of headdress. Although noble masculine pride emphasizes self control, women are also pressured, through gossip and ridicule, to conceal emotions at life transitions. Thus both male and female headdress serve the importance of reserve. I argue that Tuareg headdress is a metonym for a larger whole; access to property. In this, men and women have distinct but interrelated positions and concerns in the inheritance system as domestic groups change. At transitional points in life, individuals take on roles guarding the transfer of property. These situations necessitate the practice of reserve and respect. Headdress embodies this
Expression (computer science) · Sociology · African history and culture analysis · Anthropology · Computer Science · Cross-Cultural and Social Analysis · Diverse multidisciplinary academic research · History
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,24 |
| Citation span | 1993 - 2014 (22) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |