The Red Fez
On Art and Possession in Africa
Fritz Kramer(Author)
Verso Books (Publisher)
Published on 17. August 1993
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-0-86091-465-5 (ISBN)
Description
Kramer sets out to show that African images of Europeans-in sculpture, masquerades and above all spirit possession-are the reverse and also the counterpart of European images of the Other as savage, whether noble or ignoble. In ways which may echo 19th-century European realism, they reveal the power of the detail: a feather, a car, or the eponymous red fez which runs like a leitmotif through spirit possession cults of the early colonial period. "The Red Fez" demonstrates not only the startling likenesses to ourselves and our culture, but also reflections of forms of knowledge which this civilization has submerged.
Reviews / Votes
At last this great book is available in English. It will inspire anthropologists, art historians, literary critics and philosophers. From his intellectual travels through the African continent, Kramer brings home insights that are of epistemological significance. We learn that rapture, 'being moved'-in short, forms of ecstasy-may open prolific sources of knowledge about other cultures and peoples. And this in turn may make us rediscover sources that have for too long been censored by misguided rationalism. -- Johannes Fabian, Chair of Cultural Anthropology at the University of AmsterdamMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
744 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-86091-465-5 (9780860914655)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Fritz W. Kramer's books include Literature Among Cuna Indians, Verkehrte Welten, Zeitmarken and Bikini: Die Bombardierung der Engel.