Masks

Masks in Ritual and Festival Contexts

Traditional occasions for masking are generally at points of transition in the calendar or the life cycle— that is, when the seasons change or individuals reach certain rites of passage. Masking is associated with initiation rituals or funerary rites in cultures across the world. Even in serious rituals, however, masked figures indulge in playful and humorous expression— masked Native American ritual clowns, for example, play outrageous tricks on spectators but are respected as powerful ritual beings.

In the West, the most familiar masking traditions are associated with the pre-Lenten festivals variously known as Carnival, Mardi Gras, or Fasnacht. More than just disguise, Carnival masks function as forms of play and adornment; much creative energy goes into making and decorating them. The Carnival masks of Venice and the vejigantes masks of Ponce in Puerto Rico have achieved particular recognition for their artistic elaboration.

In Louisiana, Cajun Mardi Gras runs are quite different from the better known Mardi Gras spectacles and parades in New Orleans. The rural Mardi Gras “runners” wear masks while touring through local communities and engaging in playful inversions. The runners ask for permission to enter the yard and there wreak playful havoc, enacting roles of trickster, beggar, thief, wildman, and outlaw. The runners are masked and costumed. Masks are often handmade [Page 484]by the runners themselves or by recognized mask makers in the community, and they are designed to thoroughly disguise the identity of the maskers. Householders will try to guess their identity. Maskers engage in clowning, trickery, and artful begging and are rewarded with gifts of food and money, which go into a communal gumbo feast at the end of the day.

Another widespread masking custom is mumming, also known as janneying or guysing. Various mumming traditions in Europe and the European diaspora occur annually throughout the winter season. Masked mummers make the rounds of local homes, where they may perform traditional plays involving stock characters, speeches, and songs, and performers are rewarded with gifts of food and drink, and sometimes cash. In some traditions, mummers are expected to discipline and terrorize children—to the amusement of the adults. In addition to the disguise offered by their costumes and masks, mummers traditionally also disguise their speech, for example, with ingressive speech (speaking while breathing in).

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