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Mask and ancestral figure

2022; HAU-N.E.T; Volume: 12; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1086/721578

2575-1433

Fritz Krause,

Literature and Cultural Memory

Previous article FreeTranslationMask and ancestral figure The motif of the skin1 and the principle of formA contribution to a nonanimistic worldviewFritz KrauseFritz KrauseLeipzig Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmailPrint SectionsMoreTranslated by Kenneth KronenbergThe following is a translation of Fritz Krause’s 1931 article “Maske und Ahnenfigur: das Motiv der Hülle und das Prinzip der Form” originally published in Ethnologische Studien 1: 344–64.In my brief paper “Zur Frage der nichtanimistischen Weltanschauung” [The question of the nonanimistic worldview] (1929), I subjected the nonanimistic and the animistic worldview to a rigorous comparison in order to understand their essence and content as well as their outward form and effects on cultural life as a whole.The animistic worldview is based on the belief that life and its characteristics are borne in a “soul” that is separable from the body, and that it may leave the body of the living temporarily, and that of the dead permanently. In like manner, as human beings, all of nature is viewed as animated by a “living soul” [beseelt] or by “spirits” [Geistern] and endowed with a certain essence [Wesenheit]. These souls and spirits differ in their characteristics and capabilities. The nature [Wesen] of a human being may be transformed only to the extent that an alien “soul,” an alien “spirit,” takes possession of him and supplants or expunges his soul. The human is then “possessed” by the alien being, and then possesses and expresses its characteristics and capabilities. As the transformation of a human into a different being is possible only in that he is overcome by the “soul” of this being and becomes “possessed” [besessen], it is clear that the outward form of the being is immaterial. The same soul, constant at all times, may animate different bodies in succession, filling each with its essence. And the same body may successively become the seat of several souls that differ in their essence. This essence is not dependent on the physical, the outward form, but is determined by the “soul.”Conversely, in the nonanimistic worldview, life and essence, characteristics and capabilities of a living being, are viewed as closely connected with the body. Accordingly, physical changes imply changes in essence. The transformation of a human into another creature [Lebewesen] therefore results from the transformation of his physical form into that of the other creature; the human then becomes the being in question, with all its capabilities and characteristics, and with all of the effects [Wirkungen] that emanate from its body (Karutz 1913). This perspective is that of the belief in “demons,” supernatural beings with special powers [Wirksamkeit], equipped with a certain physical form. From the idea [Auffassung] of the inner unity of the human with the rest of the living world—despite the different types of essence embodied in the different physical forms—there emerges the notion that humans and animals may interact with each other as with their own kind, and may transform into each other directly by a transformation of their bodies. The acquisition of an alien essence thus occurs by means of transformation of a physical form. The body and its form are the bearers of essence.Here I will only deal briefly with the many questions that this nonanimistic worldview raises, emphasizing only the basics. This paper is intended merely as a programmatic outline of a more comprehensive work, and will present a preliminary overview of the understandings that I have arrived at up to now. In part I am basing myself on completely new source material from Melanesia, the Northwest Coast of North America, and from Guiana and the northwestern region of the Amazon. To what extent the ideation [Anschauungsform] that I believe I can demonstrate can be found elsewhere, and what theoretical effects may result from and go beyond my own theoretical conclusions, must await further research.2In that paper, I had pointed out on page 381 with regard to the characterization of the nonanimistic worldview that the transformation that forms the basis for the “Swan Virgin motif” must be distinguished from that of direct transformation. This is because the mutual transformation of humans and animals does not result from the transformation of one’s own body, but by putting on the physical skin [Hülle], the “covering” [Kleid], the “costume” [Tracht] of that being into which the transformation is to occur, or by taking off one’s own physical skin. Even in that paper, I drew attention to the power of this motif in cult dances in which ancestors and demons are depicted by putting on masks. This motif of transformation by taking off or putting on external physical forms, this “motif of the skin,” as I would wish to call it, seems to me characteristic of a particular conceptual layer [Vorstellungsschicht] within the nonanimistic worldview.We find the motif of the skin in myths of transformation, then also in the masking tradition [Maskenwesen] generally.Legends of transformation relate how animals take off their fur pelts or feathers so that they may be transformed into humans and act and live like genuine humans, then put them on again in order to be retransformed into animals. If they lose their animal covering [Tierkleid], they are condemned to remain human, permanently if their animal covering is destroyed (e.g., by fire). We find such animal legends that involve animals alone, and not, for example, animal demons, in New Guinea,3 especially pronounced in northern South America,4 and in northwestern North America (Boas 1891–1895, 1895).5 The opposite motif, in which animals become human by putting on a human skin, may be found among the Eskimo,6 for example, and the among the Warao people (Koch-Grünberg 1916: 283) along the mouth of the Orinoco.Conversely, humans transform into animals by putting on an animal skin. This motif is pronounced in northern South America7 and in northwestern North America (Tsimshian: see Krickeberg 1924: 196–98; Boas 1891–1895). In the stories of the Huon Gulf, the transformation may be triggered merely by putting on that part of the exterior that in the opinion of the Melanesian tribe in question is characteristic of the animal.8 Here we see the transition to those stories in which putting on certain ornaments or painting certain designs suffices to transform a human into another being.This motif plays a considerably larger role in the conception of the essence of demons and other supernatural figures, as well as of the shaman.In northern South American legends, not only does the shaman transform into an animal by putting on an animal skin (Taulipang: Geyer-Federkleid; see also Koch-Grünberg 1920: 113, 114, 121). but it is actually believed that he in fact has a jaguar pelt that he uses when he wishes to transform into a jaguar in order to range about and eat animals and humans. When he becomes a jaguar permanently upon his death, we may assume that the comment found in Koch-Grünberg (Kobeua: Koch-Grünberg 1908: 155; cf. Iqa-Japurä region: Whiffen 1915: 182), that his jaguar pelt is placed with him in his grave, indicates that this animal skin plays a role as well.9In northwestern North America, the concept of the dual essence of animals, demons, and all supernatural beings comes into play. This is probably a progression from the idea that humans and animals are equal in essence [Wesensgleichheit]. We find such ideas in northern South America as well, for example that birds are actually humans, and as such live in heaven, and that they put on their plumage and become birds when they fly to earth (Taulipang and Tembe: see Koch-Grünberg 1920: 115; 1916: 283). This notion is considerably more prevalent in northwestern North America. Among the Kwakiutl,10 the heavenly gods are human beings who put on a particular costume (skin, crest [Abzeichen]) whenever they wish to act in accordance with their divine nature. The Sun, an old man, puts on his earrings made of abalone shells and his blanket bedizened with such shells whenever he makes his daily trek across the sky (Boas 1930: 175–76). The Thunder God puts on his eagle covering when he wishes to send a storm or hail (Boas 1897: 417–18). Yetl, the Great Raven, has many human characteristics among the Tlingit, and he can put on or take off his plumage as he sees fit (Niblack 1890: 378). Among the Haida, the Raven is a great man who wraps himself in his raven plumage whenever he wishes to play pranks (Swanton 1905–1909: 27–28). All supernatural beings are presented as human among the Haida; however, they appear to humans mostly as animals, the forest creatures as birds, the river creatures as fish, the ocean creatures as sea animals. They take human form in their element and, like humans, live in tribes and villages, separated into two classes, and, like human chieftains, they possess various ranks (Swanton 1905–1909: 25, 17–18). Among the Haida animals are viewed from two perspectives, first as actual animals (as such called gīna tē’iga), which serve humans as game, and then as supernatural beings (as such called sgā’na qedas), who live like humans and may appear in human or animal form as they see fit. The Haida interpret11 the true nature of these “supernatural” animals such that apparently each type of quadruped or bird has a human form as well as an animal disguise [Verkleidung].12From this brief and thoroughly incomplete overview, it becomes sufficiently clear that the means by which the transformation takes place is the covering or skin. The skin mediates the other essence, gives it powers, characteristics, and capabilities, and allows these to become effective. By putting on the skin of another being, a being [Wesen] loses its previous essence [Wesenheit], actually becoming the other being and living and acting as it does. Accordingly, the bearer of this essence is the skin, the external form. In other words, the form is identical with the being.This principle of form, which is inherent within the motif of the skin, is given particular significance wherever “skins” and forms produced by humans are at issue. We see this especially in the case of masks, which are in peculiar harmony with the motif of the skin. In the following I will limit myself to individual sources that clarify the presence of the interpretation being presented here. It is not my intention merely to demonstrate that dance masks may in fact be differently interpreted as nonanimistic. I know that animistic interpretations of the masking tradition may be found among the same peoples and among others as well.During the Meriam funeral rites, on the islands of the Torres Strait, in Melanesia, the Papuan women recognize the men dancing toward them as “keber”13 in grass and leaf coverings with corresponding headdress, as their recently deceased relatives, especially when they perform movements characteristic of the deceased. Then the women say, “That is my husband” or “That is my child” (Haddon 1913: 160).14 The wearing of the skin corresponding to the imagined form of that of the demons of the dead and the execution of characteristic movements of the deceased during their lifetime clearly demonstrates the fact of the transformation in essence of those wearing the masks. Those wearing the masks are the deceased in question.This identity of essence of the mask wearer with the being characterized in the mask emerges clearly from the statements made by the Gunantuna (Tolai people) on New Pomerania (New Britain) regarding their tubuan and duk-duk masks (Meier 1930: 130–31).15 There, a tubuan (the term for the tubuan mask) means “old woman”; a tubuan a tadar na vavina means that the tubuan mask represents a rich woman; i tut ra tubuan, that it stands or lives on the deceased woman who is embodied by the tubuan mask; i tar mat ra tubuan, the woman who came to life in the tubuan mask has died again (this is said when the leaf costume is set aside or destroyed; the head mask is always preserved). According to J. Meier, this involves the mother of the possessor of the mask. In like fashion in the duk-duk it involves a “deceased man,” namely the maternal uncle of the possessor of the mask. The words and sentences cited indicate that the deceased woman or the deceased man come to life again in the wearer of the mask, that they actually are these persons. In other words, putting on the mask costume and the mask involves a transformation of the person of the wearer into that of the being in question. Meier expressly notes in his explanation the transformation in being that occurs by putting on the fitted skin.According to Speiser, we may distinguish between three categories of masks in the New Hebrides: masks of secret society demons, which, as fright masks, completely cover the body of the wearer with a head mask and leaf costume; ordinary dance masks that lend the wearer “a particular character”; and facemasks used as theatrical masks that are worn in public Suque society performances (Speiser 1923: 377–78, 396, 431). Speiser’s comment, that the dance and theatrical masks that do not conceal the face of the wearer lend the wearer “a particular character” makes it clear that even with these, let alone with the demon masks, the wearer has assumed the character of the being denoted by the mask; in other words that he has been transformed into this being and is that being itself. I adduce this incidence of masks in the New Hebrides even though we have little information about its inner meaning because of ancestral figures in this island group, which I will discuss later.For South America we have detailed reports by Koch-Grünberg about the masking tradition in the northwestern Amazon region, especially among the Arawak tribe of the Kaua and of the Betoya tribe of the Kobeua (Koch-Grünberg 1908, 1: 118, 128–40 [on Kaua]; 1908, 2: 151, 169–201 [on Kobeua]). The masks and masking tradition are almost identical in both tribes and were undoubtedly brought from the north by the Kaua into this region, which previously had no mask ceremonies (Koch-Grünberg 1908, 2: 2, 162–63, 169; see also Whiffen 1915: 196n2). The dance typically denotes demons, particularly death and animal demons. The body of the mask wearer, excluding hands and feet, is almost completely covered by the head mask and attached ornamental strips [angehängten Streifenbehang]. Human faces are painted on the conical masks made of tree bark, in addition to all manner of crests, which to the Indians are characteristic of the being in question (e.g., the jaguar mask presents the fur pattern of this animal by means of colorful painted figures) (Koch-Grünberg 1908, 1: 130, 118; 1908, 2: 176). The animals are not represented naturalistically; rather, it suffices for the Indians to apply certain strokes in order to mark the mask as that of the animal demon in question. It is significant in this context that the demons are presented as human beings in the mask, that is, with a human face. In addition to demons of death, other evil demons are also thought of by the Indians as having a human form (Koch-Grünberg 1908, 1: 130). To the extent that animal masks have human faces, this is undoubtedly due to the conception of these Indians, which we got to know from the neighboring cultural area of Guiana, from which the Kaua derive, and which here has at least left traces, namely that animals can be transformed into humans by removing their animal pelt. Thereafter, the animal mask bears in human form the imagined demonic being which wears the characteristics of the particular type of animal, that is, its covering or costume, so that in effect it is this animal. While the essence of the demons and animals is present through the external form of the masks, other formal elements come into play, such as pantomiming the movements and activities of the particular being by the wearer of the mask, and reproducing the natural sounds of the animal in question in mask songs (Koch-Grünberg 1908, 1: 130–31, 137–38; 1908, 2: 186).16 In other words, the masked dancers behave completely like the beings whose masks they wear, and in the process their own form and personality disappears completely. This is because the Indians interpret the masks, as they appear alive in ceremonies, as the beings themselves. Koch-Grünberg reports as a certainty that for the Indians the mask is the demon. The Kobeua always said, “that is the butterfly, the araçu fish, the solitary tinamou [macucu],” etc., and never “this is the mask of the butterfly, the araçu fish, the solitary tinamou,” etc. They say, “all masks are demons” (Koch-Grünberg 1908, 2: 173, 174).Given these statements, we may view as assured that for the Indians the transformation of the masked dancers into these beings proceeds by putting on the masks, that is, by putting on a skin formed in a particular way. However, this implies that this masking tradition belongs to the nonanimistic imagination [Vorstellungswelt]. And thus, Koch-Grünberg’s (Koch-Grünberg 1908, 2: 174, 196). animistic explanations of the nature of these masks, of the transfer of demonic power by the mask to its wearer, and of the magical effect of mask ceremonies is rendered invalid. In terms of the latter, far more convincing is the explanation that the masked dancers execute as the demons incarnate that which the Indians wish to occur; and that the execution of the necessary measures that is visible to all bears within it the result [Erfolg] that is guaranteed to the Indians by these supernatural beings.The masking traditions of the Indian tribes of the Northwest Coast of North America give clear proof of this interpretation. As is known, these tribes use an abundance of masks in their ceremonies. In part, we see complete costuming of the dancers by animal pelts, including animal head masks, such that the animal appears incarnate; in part, animal head masks that are worn with coverings or hangings that more or less hide the body; and finally human facemasks tied onto the face. The animal head masks are produced naturalistically, either from the head portion of the animal in question or carved out of wood in as faithful a rendering as possible of the animal’s form. Apart from such naturalistic masks, there are other wooden masks in which the animal form is shaped and painted according to the artistic style of the region. Neither the circumstance that a few of these animal head masks do not cover the entire head of the wearer’s helmet mask, but rather are headpieces sitting on top of the uncovered face of the wearer, nor the circumstance that the animal form is often completely stylized, nor the circumstance that the body of the wearer is not always covered, interfere with the Indians’ notion that the wearer’s being has been transformed by the mask.We find this conception in myths; it is the foundation for the shaping of the masks. In the transformation myths of these Indians, as discussed above, we find the notion that the transformation of the being conceived of in human form, which is at the core of all mythic beings and supernatural animals, into another being, particularly an animal, by putting on its costume or pelt (“skin”). But in addition to this concept we also find that the transformation occurs by putting on a mask (with or without its attendant costume [Maskenkleid]). The mask itself suffices to effect the transformation; it substitutes for [vertritt] the complete animal masquerade [Tierkleid] of the other myths.17Several examples may suffice. According to the Kwakiutl, the clan and its crests [Abzeichen] originated when an ancestor of each clan came down from heaven as an animal (seagull, thunderbird, etc.), took off his animal mask, and became and remained human; the masks became the crests of the individual clans (Boas 1895: 337). When in the middle of enumerating the ancestors they say that Walibye, the grizzly bear, took off his grizzly bear pelt and changed into a man (ancestor), this demonstrates clearly how for the Indians the mask is the exact counterpart to the animal pelt in terms of bearing the essence of the animal in question (Boas 1930, 2: 177). While this is a myth that describes the unique and final transformation of supernatural beings and animals into genuine humans during a distant past, other myths describe transformations of animals and humans, and vice versa, by putting on or taking off masks during more recent times, or even as continuing to the present day. In the story of the shaman Lebid, people who imbue the soul of a deceased man with shamanistic powers in their house in the forest by means of a ceremony are transformed into actual wolves when they leave their house and put on a wolf mask (Boas 1930, 2: 46–49).18 In his report “The owls” [Boas] states how each Kwakiutl puts on an owl mask after his death, thereby transforming into an actual owl. All owls are the transformed dead. If one asks an owl whose call one hears at night who it is, it identifies itself as a particular deceased Kwakiutl (Boas 1930, 2: 257).In my opinion, given this evidence and the statements in the Indians’ own language that I received from Mr. Boas while writing this paper, which confirm my interpretation, there can be no further doubt about how the masks are to be interpreted. The masks are the means by which one being transforms into another whose form is indicated in the mask such that he actually becomes this other being in his characteristics, capabilities, and powers.This also holds true for the masks produced by the people and used in their ceremonies. Such masks show the being in question in the form that is meaningful for the particular action in the ceremony. Thus, the form of the mask is the bearer of essence. Accordingly, when a participant puts on such a mask, he transforms into the being in question. Thus, in the ceremonies honoring the gods who visit humans annually in various forms, preferably in animal form, the mask wearers are viewed as the gods themselves who have come down from heaven, and not merely as portrayers of the gods or as actors (Jacobson 1891). Significant here are the customary double masks carved out of wood. In these masks, an outer mask is opened by pulling a string, allowing an inner mask to become visible, which identifies another form of the same being. The transformation of a being by taking off or putting on a mask, as is described in the myths, is effected in the ceremonies in which these myths are performed in pantomime, by opening and closing the double masks. The wearer of the mask remains the same; he is the being identified by the mask, behaves as such, and immediately becomes a different being when the mask is opened and the inner mask appears. Thus, for example, in the double mask used in the potlatch ceremonies of the Weiwaikum clan [Kukwäkum-Clan], the outer mask of the clan ancestor Nōlis shows an angry face, as he destroys his enemies in the legend, while the inner mask presents a friendly face, as he gives away his possessions (Boas 1895: 357–58, figure 5).19 The dual nature of animals is shown in the double animal head masks. The outer mask represents the animal nature of the animal; the inner mask the human form (face) (Boas 1895: 625, figure 192; 463, figure 99; Swanton 1905–1909: 145, figure 20).20 It is probable that these double masks are relatively recent inventions, which were probably preceded by two masks that showed the same being in two different forms and were worn in succession when one wanted to perform the transformation of this being into his other form. This continues to be practiced today (Boas 1895: 415, figures 37 and 38). The double masks allow the transformation to be performed seamlessly.From this brief description of several especially clear facts from Melanesia, South America, and North America, it should be convincingly clear that the masked dancers actually are the beings in question. They do not merely portray these beings, perform them in pantomime in a sort of play, or pretend to be those beings, but have actually been transformed into them. And this is why they behave in accordance with their essence. The actions that the mask wearers perform are not merely a symbolic nature, but are interpreted as real. What is presented is not a magical analogy; rather, the demons are represented themselves, and execute that which the humans expect of them. And their actions guarantee the humans a result. The transformation of the wearer into the specific being is accomplished by putting on the mask or the mask costume [Maskenanzug]. His own personality is extinguished in the process; that of the masking tradition stands in its stead. When considering these matters, we must not imagine the disembodied masks that we see in museums or pictured in illustrated volumes; rather, we must consider them in the full vibrancy by which they work on the body of their wearer in the actual ceremonies.21What is significant is that we find this notion of the nature of masks and of “coverings” precisely in those regions where the motif of the skin “is found in the transformation myths of the people.” I have already noted this fact above,22 because this makes it clear that a particular form of thinking or interpretation is present in these regions. The nature of this form of thinking or interpretation and its relation to the animistic and nonanimistic imagination becomes clear when we understand that this transformation in essence does not merely involve the “motif of the skin,” the external process of putting on an alien “costume.” Putting on the costume merely triggers the transformation. The active principle in the change is the particular form of this “costume.” The essence inheres in the form. Form is identical with being.This principle of form is accorded great importance in ethnology, greater than those seem to assume who, proceeding from other areas of research, have already made note of this principle.23 In my opinion, it largely rules the nonanimistic worldview. In this view, the same form implies the same being, different form different being, transition into another form, transformation into another being. At the same time, however, each formed thing is a particular being in itself (Bastian 1894: 69; Wanninger 1927: 79–86; Werner 1926: 255, 263, 264). In the magical way of thinking, a particular power emanates from such a “being,” perhaps in accordance with Karutz’s emanistic theory (Karutz 1913).24 The principle of form thus expands into the principle of effective form. And this constitutes the basis for all so-called “magic.” Because whether a formed material or an action that proceeds in a particular form is at issue, a certain effect always emanates from it, and it is the “form” that is crucial for the effect and its result. Comparably, “magical deeds” are powerful only when they are performed in the same manner, that is, in the same “form,” or that the procedure of these actions corresponds formally completely to what one expects of them or intends by them (so-called sympathetic magic [Analogiezauber]) (see also Werner 1926: 107n233, 255, 263, 264). Because of this, Werner proposes the excellent term Formungszauber [“formational magic”] instead of Analogiezauber or Vorbildzauber [“exemplary magic”] (Werner 1926: 269).25The principle of form has particular significance for ancestral figures—and vice versa.On the islands of the Torres Strait, where the ancestral cult is prevalent (see the mask dances above), the stones that are placed in sacred ceremonial places in memory of the deceased, which exhibit a roughly painted face, are the deceased themselves and they are given their names. The funeral rites take place in front of them so that in this manner the deceased participate in them (Haddon 1913: 133–34). By the mere fact that the stones have this rough human form they are viewed as that particular being himself.The ancestral cult figures in the New Hebrides are especially richly developed (see Speiser 1923). Here we find skull statues and figures carved out of wood or tree fern trunks.26 The skull statues take many forms:a) an attempt at a faithful rendering of the deceased by means of a human form made out of a sculptural mass [plastische Masse] modeled over a stave or leaf frame, along with a head portrait modeled with a sculptural mass over the skull of the deceased, along with all of the crests to which the deceased is entitled;b) poles with a rough suggestion of the human body, upon which the skull of the deceased is placed;c) simple staves with skulls placed over them. The elaboration of these skull statues depends on the rank that the deceased held in the Suque society, which is critical to the power of his mana.Although many of the wood and tree fern statues present complete figures, there are also those in which only the head is present. (In this connection I need not consider figures denoting grade or rank.) The large upright drums that are fashioned in the human form, and play a large role in the ancestral cult ceremonies of the Suque society, are nothing other than such ancestor figures (Speiser 1923: 388), although they are hollowed out and therefore make sounds when beaten. All of these ancestor figures are placed in or at the men’s house; the larger drums, on the other hand, are placed in the middle of the ceremonial places, which are surrounded by skull tombs [Schädelgrabstätten] with stone offering tables set up for them (Speiser 1923: 385, 386).These figures stand for the ancestors of their possessor. The attempt to achieve similarity in the portraits demonstrates the desire to present very particular ancestors, most often the father, in representational form. As long as the memory of the an