This collection of papers, presented at the 42nd International Congress of Americanists, considers the interplay between the mask, the mask bearer, and the audience. The studies concentrate on the idea of masking as a transformational ritual in which the human actor is transformed into a being of another order. The authors use examples from various cultures and in their analyses argue for particular sets of relationships as being crucial to the understanding of the mask.

N. Ross Crumrine's profile page

Marjorie M. Halpin's profile page

N. Ross Crumrine (editor) is a professor of anthropology at the University of Victoria. Marjorie M. Halpin (editor) is associate professor of anthropology at the University of British Columbia and curator of ethnology at the Museum of Anthropology.

An important contribution which will profoundly influence our view of the complexity, significance and variety of masquerade in the Americas, and will be indispensable in formulating new and related problematics.

Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford