African Masks and Emotions: In Theory and in Practice

In this groundbreaking book, Z. S. Strother, inspired by dialogues with African masquerade patrons and performers, disputes assumptions that masks universally hide, reveal, or transform.

In Western European languages, the word mask exerts a powerful presence as a figure of speech. To masquerade is to pretend to be someone or something one is not. By extension, unmasking is a heroic metaphor for exposing a hidden truth. In this volume, art historian Z. S. Strother counters that narrative, u...