Download or read book Masks and Masking written by Gary Edson and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2009-10-06 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For at least 20,000 years, masking has been a mark of cultural evolution and an indication of magical-religious sophistication in society. This book provides a comprehensive understanding of the mask as a powerful cultural phenomenon--a means by which human groupings attempted to communicate their dignity and sense of purpose, as well as establish a continuum between the natural and supernatural worlds. It addresses the distinctive environments within which masks flourished, and analyzes the mask as a manifestation of art, ethnology and anthropology.