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Red Ajah Masquerade Week Discussion: History of Masks


Jivenrah Sedai

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Posted

Welcome to the Red Ajah Spring Masquerade!

 

Here we will discuss masks as they were and are used in any and every culture of the world - past and present, sacred and profane.

 

What are their function and purpose?

Where do we see them?

When have you worn one? and Why?

Do they differ in function and purpose from veils? Hats? 

 

Of course, the answers to these questions depend heavily on the context and the culture in which they are found. Let's discuss!

 

 

siggy.jpg

Posted

When have you worn one? and Why?

 

Well the only masks I have worn are the ones I received or made as a child for Carnival. At school, we had a lot of activities around February which included making, drawing or coloring masks. I have done a bit of cosplay but none of the characters I have impersonated wear masks.

 

Where do we see them?

 

IRL, I have only seen "worn" masks for Carnival, Halloween or for Cosplay. The other ones I have seen were in museum, like the museum of Africa.

(well I have seen gas masks ... but those are completely different I guess).

 

What are their function and purpose?

 

I guess that the masks that people wear on Carnival and Halloween are used to impersonate other people, beings. Now for Carnival itself, I think that the mask allow the wearer to hide his/her identity so he/she can truly liberate him/herself, drink and do mischief? For Halloween I think it has more to do with chasing the bad spirits away?

Posted

Starting this thread made me think of the long-nosed Venetian plague masks worn in the past and the paper masks doctors wear now to protect from germs. But it also made me think of hiding one's identity and getting up to mischief. Would doctors perform medical procedures with even more care if their masks were transparent? Is it reassuring to see them all gowned and masked in the hospital? I've only been in the hospital to deliver my babies and I don't remember the midwives wearing them. So, how necessary are they? Does it affect bedside manner? Do we see them as a symbol of the doctor's authority?

Posted

Starting this thread made me think of the long-nosed Venetian plague masks worn in the past and the paper masks doctors wear now to protect from germs.

I just mentioned that in another thread. :D

Posted

What are their function and purpose?

 

Theres lots of theories about the social function, history, and psychology of masks and masking, its a pretty interesting field though one I haven't really delved far into. Though people wear them for fun a lot today in the modern culture, I think the entertainment aspect is ultimately derived from their original purpose which in my opinion is to transform someone into a different entity psychologically/spiritually. In the older cultures I am familiar with that have used masks or paint in any significant ceremony, the mask both allows the audience to witness a manifestation of a significant entity - such as a god or spirit - while simultaneously allowing the wearer to be treated as and experience being that entity. A very poignant example that comes to mind is the Hopi Kachina dancers, who, when they were in costume, were not considered people at all but katsinim, the name for the spirits among the Hopi, and some of the dancers explained that they were no longer themselves when they wore the masks, they were whatever katsina the mask represented. Using Frazerian or Campbellian logic, representation = actual state of being psychologically in the most primal of cultural perception, while it is only later that you begin to see the mask, the person behind it, and the being represented as all distinct entities, in which the mask then becomes sacred only because it is a likeness, not an actual conduit/way for the god to manifest itself. My religion does something similiar insofar as whoever is wearing the symbols of a particular god for a ritual are considered the god itself at least so long as they stay in dress. Now, though people may not consciously consider themselves being transformed when they put on a mask for something silly, unconsciously, they are, whether by indulging in whatever license wearing one allows them that they normally wold never consider or otherwise exhibiting subtle changes in behaviour or personality while attempting to act in character with the mask.

 

This is just my opinion but I think masks are ultimately the most symbolic artifice of human thought - it represents the human ability to think and act - to become - something more than yourself, to see life from many perspectives, and that ability to think beyond oneself, if you choose to use it, is what defines what is human. They probably even helped shape human psychology as the human ability to play even as adults and imagine different perspectives to encourage that play would have been promoted by masking.

 

Where do we see them?

Usually at festivals. 

 

When have you worn one? and Why?

I've worn them for ceremonies in my religion, which are for a variety of reasons.

 

Do they differ in function and purpose from veils? Hats? 

I don't know much about veils. Hats, I imagine, were originally conceived as something utilitarian so even if now they can share some of the same purposes as masks (such as cosmetic or for status) I think ultimately they were conceived with different functions in mind (the mask as a transformation, the hat as just any other piece of clothing unless serving as part of/basically a mask itself).

Posted

My seven-year-old has a mask that covers the upper part of her face which she likes to wear just for playing. I find myself a little unnerved by how she looks in it because it truly does change her from the daughter I know into somewhat of a stranger. But better that one than the full Michael Myer Hallowe'en-looking mask. Yikes! I've only worn masks for Hallowe'en and that was when I was a child. Carnival isn't a big thing here or where I grew up so I have a question...Do adults wear them for festivities (such as Carnival) as much as children? For that matter, how many of us here on Dragonmount are using our real names? Not very many, I would guess. Same reason? Wanting to present a different identity than our everyday own? Anonymity can be a balm at times.

Posted

Although, Ryrin, isn't my real name, I'm pretty much an open book.  I know some folks here very well, RL, included.  However, I like "playing" in the Wheel of Time.

 

Would Cos Play considered to be "masking?"

Posted

Starting this thread made me think of the long-nosed Venetian plague masks worn in the past and the paper masks doctors wear now to protect from germs. But it also made me think of hiding one's identity and getting up to mischief. Would doctors perform medical procedures with even more care if their masks were transparent? Is it reassuring to see them all gowned and masked in the hospital? I've only been in the hospital to deliver my babies and I don't remember the midwives wearing them. So, how necessary are they? Does it affect bedside manner? Do we see them as a symbol of the doctor's authority?

 

Doctors don't typically wear surgical masks around the wards in hospital, they only wear them while operating. The purpose of the surgical mask is to act as a filter preventing droplets filled with bacteria being breathed on the patient - their actual benefit varies based on the type of surgery that's happening. Operations are classified as either clean, clean-contaminated or dirty; the use of masks is probably useful in the latter but the evidence is unclear in the former

 

If you had a normal vagina delivery, the risk of you developing an infection from droplets is minimal - the biggest potential source of infection would be retained portions of placenta within the womb. Having someone breathe on you from the outside isn't gonna do too much! On the other hand, if you were having a hip replacement operation, where the consequences of developing a deep wound infection would be catastrophic, you would be operated on by surgeons wearing something like this in a positive pressure operating theatre. 

Posted

those masks are very impressive O.O

they are huge ! it makes the surgeons look like astronauts ...

 

 

@ Ryrin, well cosplay could be "masking" if it includes masks, i'd say ? there are lot of fantasy/sci-fi/... characters who wear a mask. That's why i mentioned it earlier :tongue:

Posted

I think it could be "masking" even if something was not over your face because you are taking on, physically, a whole new persona.

Posted

I had not thought of that ... it does make sense!

 

You do have to impersonate someone else indeed

Posted

Would you consider make-up a "mask?"  Would it have to be elaborate, like this?

 

tumblr_nawpufhxWc1ture5co3_500.jpg

 

Or more like this?

Posted

What are their function and purpose?

 

Theres lots of theories about the social function, history, and psychology of masks and masking, its a pretty interesting field though one I haven't really delved far into. Though people wear them for fun a lot today in the modern culture, I think the entertainment aspect is ultimately derived from their original purpose which in my opinion is to transform someone into a different entity psychologically/spiritually. In the older cultures I am familiar with that have used masks or paint in any significant ceremony, the mask both allows the audience to witness a manifestation of a significant entity - such as a god or spirit - while simultaneously allowing the wearer to be treated as and experience being that entity. A very poignant example that comes to mind is the Hopi Kachina dancers, who, when they were in costume, were not considered people at all but katsinim, the name for the spirits among the Hopi, and some of the dancers explained that they were no longer themselves when they wore the masks, they were whatever katsina the mask represented. Using Frazerian or Campbellian logic, representation = actual state of being psychologically in the most primal of cultural perception, while it is only later that you begin to see the mask, the person behind it, and the being represented as all distinct entities, in which the mask then becomes sacred only because it is a likeness, not an actual conduit/way for the god to manifest itself. My religion does something similiar insofar as whoever is wearing the symbols of a particular god for a ritual are considered the god itself at least so long as they stay in dress. Now, though people may not consciously consider themselves being transformed when they put on a mask for something silly, unconsciously, they are, whether by indulging in whatever license wearing one allows them that they normally wold never consider or otherwise exhibiting subtle changes in behaviour or personality while attempting to act in character with the mask.

 

This is just my opinion but I think masks are ultimately the most symbolic artifice of human thought - it represents the human ability to think and act - to become - something more than yourself, to see life from many perspectives, and that ability to think beyond oneself, if you choose to use it, is what defines what is human. They probably even helped shape human psychology as the human ability to play even as adults and imagine different perspectives to encourage that play would have been promoted by masking.

 

 

What an informative post! Thank you for that, Taltos - it was really very interesting to read.

Posted

Would you consider make-up a "mask?"  Would it have to be elaborate, like this?

 

tumblr_nawpufhxWc1ture5co3_500.jpg

 

Or more like this?

Ryrin, I would say 'yes' to make up being a mask. Especially when worn this elaborately. This week has made me think of how little it might truly take for us to adopt another persona. It may not even have to be a mask, but anything that we've imbued with enough symbolism to change our thinking when we wear it or put it on. There are certain clothes that make me feel different about myself that have nothing to do with costume. 

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