MASKS OF THE SPIRIT. Image and Metaphor in Mesoamerica

Markman, Roberta H., and Peter T. Markman

ISBN 10: 0520064186 / ISBN 13: 9780520064188

Published by University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 1981

About this Item

In this work, the authors guide us through the long history of Mesoamerican masks, drawing deeply from previous scholarship in art history, literature, and anthropology, as well as from their own investigations. They trace the Mesoamerican system of cosmological thought, and its expression in the metaphor of the mask, from its ancient base in shamanism, through its merging with the Christianity of the conquerors. The book contains photographs, illustrations, notes, bibliography, and an index; the endpapers serve as maps. This HARDCOVER copy is SIGNED BY THE AUTHORS, inscribed on the title page, and is clean and solid. Seller Inventory # 015552

Bibliographic Details

Title: MASKS OF THE SPIRIT. Image and Metaphor in ...

Publisher: University of California Press, Berkeley, CA

Publication Date: 1981

Binding: Cloth

Condition: Near Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

Signed: Signed by Authors

Edition: First Edition, First Printing

About this title

Synopsis:

This illustrated study guides the reader through the long history of Mesoamerican mask-making. It explores many themes associated with one of the least understood yet fascinating religious and mythological traditions.

From Library Journal:

Roberta Markman (comparative literature, California State Univ.) and Peter Markman (English, Fullerton Coll.) perceive the Mesoamerican mask as a metaphor and agent of transformation, mirroring in its relationship with its wearer the unity of the "underlying life force and the natural world it forms and sustains." Examples of the mask's symbolism, illustrated with black-and-white and color plates, are drawn from pre-Columbian images of the rain god, modern folkways, and contemporary art. While the Markmans' approach is nearer art than science, it draws on and reconciles scholarship in many disciplines, including anthropology and sociology as well as mythology. The extensive bibliography includes works by Alan Watts, Claude Levi-Strauss, and Joseph Campbell, as well as Mesoamericanists. Recommended for humanities collections in academic and large public libraries.
- Christine Whittington, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.