ANTH 215 - ART, LANGUAGE, AND SOCIETY

 

Professor: Valentina Pagliai

Oberlin College

 

M W 12:00-1:15pm

 

Office: King 320a

Phone: (440) 775-8372 office

(440) 250-9676 home

Office Hours: T 3:00-4:30pm, W 1:30-3:00pm

(Or by appointment)

E-mail: valentina.pagliai@oberlin.edu

Web Page:

http://www.geocities.com/~vpagliai/215spring03/index.htm

 

 

Course Description: What is art?  The attempt to answer this question raises several issues, and can be approached from several points of view.  This course features a multifaceted approach to the anthropological study of Art, by including contributions from linguistic and cultural anthropology, and archaeology, as well as the voices of the artists themselves.  It guides you toward an understanding of the multiple roles of art forms in society, by exploring various art genres and showing their connection to the construction of social identities and to the structuring of political power.  Moreover, it expands and rethinks definitions of art and language, encouraging a discussion of how such definitions can influence our ways of approaching and experiencing art. 

 

Course Goals:

1) To come to a more deep and complex understanding of art, encouraging reflection on the ways we think about what is art and what is not.

2) To encourage the students to apply an anthropological and ethnolinguistic way of thinking on a non-traditional anthropological subject.

3) To review basic conceptualizations of art and its place in society, as well as concepts related to the study of the art forms.

4) To provide to the students different points of view, showing them that ≥voices of authority≤ are not necessarily unquestionable.

 

Required Textbooks:

1) Marcus, George E. & Fred R. Myers (eds.) 1995 The Traffic in Culture: Reconfiguring Art and Anthropology.  Berkeley: University of California Press. (M&M)

2) Bauman, Richard 1986 Story, Performance and Event.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  (RB)

3) Basso, Keith 1979 Portraits of the Whiteman: Linguistic Play and Cultural Symbols among the Western Apache.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (KB)

4) Fabian, Johannes 1996 Remembering the Present: Painting and Popular History in Zaire.  Berkeley: University of California Press. (JF)

5) Additional Readings: Copies of the course's additional readings are in reserve and in e-res in the campus Library.

 

Optional Textbook:

6) Becker, Carol (Ed.) 1994. The subversive immagination: Artists, Society and Social Responsibility. New York & London: Routledge.

 

Note: All Readings and Assignments are to be done by the date they are listed on the syllabus.  All videos listed will be shown in class.

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 1

 

M 2/3 -- Introduction to the course. Definitions of Language & the Language of Art.  Definitions of Art and of its Place in Society.

 

 

W 2/5 -- Relativizing the Art World.

 

Readings:

1) Sullivan, Nancy 1995 ≥Inside Trading: Postmodernism and the Social Drama of Sunflowers in the 1980s Art World.≤  In M & M  (Pp. 256-286)

2) Myers, Fred 1995 ≥Representing Culture: The Production of Discourses for Aboriginal Acrylic Paintings.≤  In M & M (Pp. 55-84).

 

Reading Forward:

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu ≥The History of Zaire≤ in JF, pp. 17-46.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 2

 

M 2/10 -- Aesthetic Systems: Who makes the rules? Who defines Art?

 

Video: ≥Guerrillas in Our Midst≤ (35 min.)

Discussion #1

 

Readings:

1) Feld ≥From Schizophonia to Schismogenesis≤ in M & M pp. 96-122.

2) Mullin, Molly H. ≥The Patronage of Difference≤ in M&M pp. 166-186.

 

 

W 2/12 -- Verbal Art and Performance.

 

Readings:

1) RB ≥Introduction,≤ pp. 1-10.  Ch. 2, pp. 11-32.

2) Kapchan, D. A. 1995.  ≥Performance.≤  Journal of American Folklore, 108(430): 479-508.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 3

 

M 2/17 -- HOLIDAY

 

W 2/19 -- Artist, Audience and Context.

 

Discussion #2. (20 minutes)

Assignment #1 Due.

Discussion of the studentsπ chosen projects (25 minutes)

 

Readings:

1) Trinh T. Minh-ha 1981 ≥Commitment from the Mirror-Writing Box.≤  From Woman, Native, Other.  Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.  (Pp. 5-20)

2) Lynn M. Hart 1995 "Three Walls: Regional Aesthetics and the International Art World" In M&M  (Pp. 127-150).

3) Boal, Augusto 1998 ≥Invisible Theater.≤ In J. Cohen-Cruz (Ed.) Radical Street Performance: An International Anthology.  London and New York: Routledge. Pp. 121-124.

 

Reading Forward:

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu ≥The History of Zaire≤ in JF, pp. 47-78.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 4

 

M 2/24 -- Storytelling, Creating reality: Creativity and form. An analysis of Zuni verbal art.

 

Readings:

1) Tedlock, Dennis 1983. From The Spoken Word and the Work of Interpretation.  Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.  ≥Introduction,≤ ≥Prologue: When the White Mask is Worn,≤ ≥The Poetics of Verisimilitude,≤ ≥On Praying, Exclaiming, and Saying Hello in Zuni,≤ ≥The Spoken Word and the Work of Interpretation in American Indian Religion,≤ Pp. 3-28, 159-193, 233-246.

Skim through the following piece:

RB, Ch. 5, pp.78-106.

 

W 2/26 -- Storytelling: Continued.

              Art and Politics. Three different definitions of art in its relation to society will be discussed: Gramsci's, Croce's and Marcuse's ones.

 

Discussion #3 (20 min)

 

Reading Forward:

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu ≥The History of Zaire≤ in JF, pp. 79-99.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 5

 

M 3/3 -- Art and Politics. Continued:

 

Readings:

1) Becker, Carol 1994 ≥Introduction: Presenting the Problem≤ & ≥Herbert Marcuse and the Subversive Potential of Art.≤  In C. Becker (Ed.) The Subversive Imagination: Artists, Society and Social Responsibility.  New York and London: Routledge.  (Pp. xi-xix, 113-129).

2) Kuryluk, Ewa 1994 ≥A Plea for Irresponsibility.≤  In C. Becker (Ed.) The Subversive Imagination.  (Pp. 13-19)

 

 

W 3/5 -- Performance, Resistance and Responsibility.

 

Discussion # 4 (40 min)

 

Readings:

1) Rosler, Martha 1994  ≥Place, Position, Power, Politics.≤  In C. Becker (Ed.) The Subversive Imagination.  (Pp. 55-76).

2) Sadri, Ahmad 1994 ≥Adjusting to the World According to Salman Rushdie.≤  In C. Becker (Ed.) The Subversive Imagination.  (Pp. 168-184)

3) Pagliai, Valentina 2002 ≥Poetic Dialogues.≤  Ethnology Journal.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 6

 

M 3/10 -- Continued:

 

W 3/12 -- Involvements:

 

Readings:

1) Escobar, Elizam 1994 ≥The Heuristic Power of Art.≤  In C. Becker (Ed.) The Subversive Imagination. (Pp. 35-53).

4) Hauser, Eva 1994 ≥The Velvet Revolution and Iron Necessity.≤  In C. Becker (Ed.) The Subversive Imagination.  (Pp. 77-94).

3) Alter, Nora M. 1995 ≥Vietnamese Theatre of Resistance.≤  In J. E. Gainor (Ed.) Imperialism and Theater: Essays on World Theater, Drama and Performance.  New York and London: Routledge.  (Pp. 1-16).

4) From J. Cohen-Cruz (Ed.) Radical Street Performance: An International Anthology.  London and New York: Routledge.

Knezevic, Dubravka 1998 ≥Marked with Red Ink.≤ Pp. 52-61.

Barba, Eugenio, from ≥Letter from the South of Italy.≤ Pp. 185-189.

Byam, Dale L. ≥Communal Space and Performance in Africa.≤ Pp. 230-236.

Thiongπo, Ngugi wa from ≥The Language of African Theater.≤ Pp. 238-244.

            Peter, Hahdke ≥Theater-in-the-Street and Theater-in-Theaters.≤ Pp. 7-10.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 7

 

M 3/17 -- Irony

 

Discussion #5: (50 min)

 

Readings:

1) Bauman: Story, Performance and Event (Pp. 33-77).

2) KB, pp. 37-82, skim ch. 1.

 

W 3/19 -- Identities. Expressions: Whose Art? Whose voices?

 

Video: ≥A Passion for Remembrance≤ (80 min)

 

Assignment #2 Due Friday 3/19 by 4:00pm

 

Reading Forward:

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu ≥The History of Zaire≤ in JF, pp. 100-122.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 8

 

                        SPRING BREAK

 

___________________________________________________________

WEEK 9 

 

M 3/31 -- Identities. Language, Art and Identity.

 

Readings:

1) Kondo, Dorinne 1997 ≥The Narrative Production of Home in Asian American Theater.≤  In About Face: Performing Race in Fashion and Theater.  New York & London: Routledge.  (Pp. 189-209).

3) Mercer, Kobena 1994 ≥Black Art and the Burden of Representation.≤ In Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural Studies. New York & London: Routledge. Pp. 233-258.

 

 

W 4/2 -- Identities: continued.

Authenticity

 

Discussion #6: (40 min)

 

Readings:

1) Ward Churchill 1994  "Nobody's Pet Poodle.  Jimmie Durham: An Artist for Native North America".  In Indians are Us?  Common Courage Press: Monroe, Maine.  (Pp. 89-113).

2) Steiner, Christopher B. 1995  ≥The Art of the Trade: On the Creation of Value and Authenticity in the African Art Market.≤  In Marcus & Myers (Eds.)  The Traffic in Culture: Refiguring Art and Anthropology.  University of California Press, Los Angeles.  (Pp. 151-164)

 

Skim through the following article:

3) Papastergiadis, Nikos & Laura Turney (Eds.) 1996 On Becoming Authentic: Interview with Jimmie Durham.  Cambridge: Prickly Pear Press.  (Pp. 10-53)

 

Reading Forward:

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu ≥The History of Zaire≤ in JF, pp. 123-163.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 10 

 

M 4/7 -- Authenticity: continued.

            Expressions.  Gendered Art.

 

Readings:

1) Babcock, Barbara 1993 ≥At Home, No Women are Storytellers: Ceramic Creativity and the Politics of Discourse in Cochiti Pueblo.≤  In S. Lavie, K. Narayan & R. Rosaldo (Eds.) Creativity/Anthropology.  Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.  (Pp. 70-91).

2) Cohen-Cruz, Jan 1998 ≥At Cross-Purposes: The Church Ladies for Choice.≤ In J. Cohen-Cruz (Ed.) Radical Street Performance. Pp. 90-98.

 

W 4/9 -- Presentation by Professor Barbara Hoffman (Cleveland State University).

 

Reading Forward:

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu ≥The History of Zaire≤ in JF, pp. 164-184.

 

Assignment #3 due.

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 11

 

M 4/14  -- Expressions: Continued.

 

Video: Las Madres. (excerpts)

Discussion #7: (20 min)

 

Readings:

1) Caton, Steven 1990 ≥The Poetic Construction of Self.≤ In åPeaks of Yemen I Summon:π Poetry as Cultural Practice in a North Yemeni Tribe. Berkeley: California UP. Pp. 109- 126.

2) Taylor, Diana 1998 ≥Making a Spectacle: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo.≤  In J. Cohen-Cruz (Ed.) Radical Street Performance.  (Pp. 74-84)

3) Caraveli, Anna 1986 ≥The Bitter Wounding: The Lament as Social Protest in Rural Greece.≤  In J. Dubisch (Ed.) Gender and Power in Rural Greece.  Princeton: Princeton University Press.  (Pp. 169-192).

 

 

W 4/16 -- Art, Language, and Power: womenπs expressions as political. Questioning and redefining art from a womanπs perspective.

 

Video excerpts: from ≥Righteous Babes≤ & ≥A Place of Rage≤ and/or others. (30 min)

Discussion # 8: (45 min.)

 

Readings:

1) Goldstein, Judith L. ≥The female Aesthetic Community.≤ in M&M, pp. 310-325.

2) Vance, Carole S. ≥Four Essays on Art, Sexuality, and Cultural Politics≤ in M&M, pp. 330-337, 340-346, 348-356, 359-365.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 12 

 

M 4/21 -- Memory.

 

Readings:

1) FJ, ≥Preface≤ pp. ix-xv.  ≥Prelude≤ pp. 3-15. ≥Introduction≤ pp. 187-191. ≥Genre and Popular Painting is Shaba≤ pp. 193-217. ≥Painting, Talking and Writing≤ pp. 219-246.

 

 

W 4/23 -- Memory.

 

Discussion #9

 

Readings:

1) FJ, ≥Beyond the Written and the Oral,≤ ≥What Happened,≤ ≥Images, Words, and Realities,≤ pp. 247-316.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 13 

 

W 5/1 -- STUDENTS' PRESENTATIONS

 

Deadline to finish putting up your work in the departmentπs display case.

 

 

F 5/3 -- STUDENTS' PRESENTATIONS

 

____________________________________________________________

WEEK 14 

 

W 5/8 -- STUDENTS' PRESENTATIONS

 

 

F 5/10 -- Final Review: Real art, fakes, high art, craft, ethnic art, authentic art, commodity.

 

 

____________________________________________________________

FINALSπ WEEK

 

FINAL EXAM: SAT May 17, 2pm to 4pm

 

Course Policies:

 

Code of honor

The Oberlin College Students' Code of Honor applies to the course.

 

Readings should be completed by the day they are listed on the syllabus; this will help you follow lectures and prepare for discussion.

 

Assignments are due at the beginning of the class session. All assignments should be typed. I will NOT accept assignments submitted by e-mail (exceptions must be previously authorized). More information about the Assignments will be distributed later on, during the course.

 

Late Assignments

Assignments must be turned in on time at the beginning of class.  Assignments will be graded down 1 point for each day that they are late.

 

Student's Project

This includes the 3 Assignments and the Presentation to the class. It consists of an in depth study of a particular form of art (preferably not mainsteam western art). Students can opt to work in pairs or small groups. Each group will have to discuss their choice of a topic by the end of the third week. Each group will have to present their project, some may also opt to display their project in the departmentπs display case.

 

Midterm & Final Exams

Each of the two exams focuses on material in the segment of the course that immediately precedes it; however, the final exam may include comprehensive questions on all previous material.  Make-ups will be given only for serious documented emergencies. 

 

Discussions: Prepare yourself for discussion. You will have to write a 2 pages summary or essay on the topic to be discussed and turn it in to me at the end of the discussion. Further information, when needed, will be given in advance of each discussion.

 

Participation is fundamental, and should not be limited to the times officially reserved for discussion. Participation includes attendance.

 

Grades: will be given on a curve:

 

Midterm Exam                         50 points

Final Exam                              70 points

Assignment #1                         15 points

Assignment #2                         15 points

Assignment #3                         40 points

Presentation to Class                 40 points

Discussions                              90 points (10 points each)

Participation                            30 points

                                                _________

Total                                        350 points

 

Final Note: Although the syllabus will be followed as much as possible, it is intended as a guideline and circumstances may require a change to the schedule.  Students are responsible for any changes announced in class.