Beneath the Laarve: Masking during the Basel Carnival of Fasnacht (Faasnacht)
| Autor: | Olga Věra Cieslarová, Martin Pehal, Werner Kern |
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| Rok vydání: | 2023 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Material Culture. :135918352211496 |
| ISSN: | 1460-3586 1359-1835 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/13591835221149681 |
| Popis: | Describing the historical development of the mask ( Laarve) 2 within the carnival tradition of the Basel Fasnacht ( Faasnacht, Switzerland) during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, this article offers a case study of the so-called reflexive turn in late modern (‘post-traditional’) societies. Drawing on the concept of ritual reflexivity, we argue that the gradual development of the Fasnacht masks into oversized constructions covering the ritualist's whole head ( Laarve) went hand in hand with the development of various other ritual mechanisms aimed at facilitating within the ritual framework a meditative, inward-oriented stance ( enstasis). 3 This is especially interesting as carnivals tend to be associated with precisely the opposite dynamics: transcending social norms through the celebration of excess and inebriation which, in its extreme forms, may lead to ekstasis (or at least a headache). The described ritual elements are interpreted as a series of mirroring mechanisms nested within one another. The ritual handling of the Laarve by the ritualists (its donning and taking off at regular intervals) is then understood simultaneously as a facilitator and a marker fuelling and isolating individual phases of an otherwise non-discrete reflexive process. Based on first-hand accounts of ritualists’ experiences of mask-wearing, we will show how Basel Fasnacht walks a tightrope between ‘modelling’ and ‘mirroring’ societal, communal and idiosyncratic levels of meaning-making. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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