Transcript Chapter 14 powerpoint File

Chapter 14
The Arts
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What Is Art?
Why Do Anthropologists Study Art?
What Are the Functions of the Arts?
Art
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Most all societies throughout the ages have used the
expression of art- the creative use of the human
imagination to interpret, express, and enjoy life.
Western cultures typically feel that art is purely for
aesthetic purposes and serve no other function.
 Do
you think this is true?
Anthropological Study of Art
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Anthropologists are certainly concerned with the
study of art as a reflection of a culture.
To better understand the art a particular culture or
genre might produce they examine the aesthetic,
narrative, and interpretive aspects of the work.
Usually art can be broken down into several
categories:
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Visual, Verbal, and Musical.
Visual Art
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Visual art may be representational (imitating
closely the forms of nature) or abstract (drawing
from natural forms but representing only their basic
patterns or arrangements).
In some of the Indian art of North America’s
northwest coast, animal figures may be so highly
exaggerated it is difficult for an outsider to
identify.
Believed to generally be symbolic in nature and not
purely decorative.
Rock Art
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Paintings, engravings, and carvings on the walls
of caves and rocky shelters or outcrops is a
hallmark of early modern human populations.
This art is generally representative of animals of
the time and hunts of those things.
A variety of color methods were used.
The first true expression of artistic behavior in
the human species.
Thought to be made while in trance.
Iconic Images
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These images depicted in rock art are thought the
be culturally specific people, animals, and monsters
that might be seen in the deepest stages of trance.
Also known as iconic images.
Trances might have been drug induced.
Verbal Arts
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Verbal arts include narrative, drama, poetry,
incantations, proverbs, riddles, and word games.
Oral traditions denote a culture’s unwritten stories,
beliefs, and customs.
Folklore is a term coined by 19th-century scholars
studying the unwritten stories and other artistic
traditions of rural peoples to distinguish between
“folk art” and the “fine art” of the literate elite.
Categories of Narratives
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Myths
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Sacred narratives that explains the fundamentals of
human existence-where we and everything in our
world came from, why we are here, and where we are
going.
Legends
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A story told about a memorable event or figure
handed down by tradition and told as true but without
historical evidence.
Categories of Narratives
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Epic
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Tales
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Long dramatic oral narrative recounting the
celebrated deeds of a historic or legendary hero,
often sung in poetry.
A creative narrative that is recognized as fiction for
entertainment but may also draw a moral (motif) or
teach a practical lesson.
Motif
A
story situation in a tale
Musical Art
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Beginning in the 19th century with the collection of
folksongs is the study of ethnomusicology or the
study of a society’s music in terms of its cultural
setting.
Ethnomusicologists like to differentiate between
music and musical.
To be musical there must be a repetition of sounds
most often one thinks of European music.
Musical Art
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Tonality refers to scale systems and their
modifications. Although these vary cross culturally as
so one group may find a sound musical and the
other annoying.
There may be some natural influence in the scale
development of certain geographical regions.
Some birds pitch their songs to the same scale as
Western music.
Functions of Art
The function of art can be observed in
several ways. First it can serve as a
mechanism for one to display their social
status, spiritual identity, and political power.
 It can also be used to transmit cultural and
ancestral ties through verbal art.
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Functions of Music
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The function of music is also one of self expression,
it can be used to pass time-purely entertainment
purposes.
May also be used as an identifier- a more natural
role for music similar to the animal kingdom.
The most obvious being the social function of song
which contains verbal text and can transmit
messages.
Function of Music
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One of the most recent and powerful ways in which
music can be utilized by particular minority or ethnic
groups who might have previously been under
heard.
They can use song/music to express their plight to
those in the larger majority. Allowing them to give
a message and receive attention they might
otherwise have not had.
Suggested Activity-Verbal Art
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Have students gather into groups and think of any
myths, legends, epics, or tales that are central to
their culture.
Discuss what the functions are of these stories, why
are they continually passed down, do they know the
origin of the story, and do they believe them as
true?