Trajectories of a Mask Performance

The Case of the Senegalese Kumpo

Bibliographic Data

ID3627423
AuthorsFerdinand De Jong (0000-0001-9499-2546, African Studies Centre, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume39
Issue153
Pages49-71
Publication date1999-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCahiers d études africaines (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-0055 • E-ISSN: 1777-5353
PublisherPERSEE Program (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3406/cea.1999.1964
OpenAlexW2007408479
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited1

This article examines the divergent trajectories of the Kumpo rnask performance in Casamance (Senegal). Several modes of performance are related to various historical contexts of capitalist encroachment. It is shown that the mask-audience relationship expresses particular articulations between modes of performance and the social structure as determined by the global capitalist economy. The performances analysed involve divergent audiences of young women, officiais, and foreign tourists. The Kumpo performance has very diverse meanings in the various contexts, ail of them contemporaneous. The mask is used in various ways to manage the impact of the market economy. Commoditisation of the mask performance has resulted in a radical transformation of the mask-audience relationship

Aesthetics · Art · Economic geography · Economic system · Economics · Sociology · Transformation (genetics · African history and culture studies · Cultural Identity and Heritage

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