Representing the Spirits: The Masks of the Alaskan Inuit

• Main Author: Oosten, Jarich
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University PressOxford 1992
• Subjects: Alaskan Inuit; inuit
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198277330.003.0006; https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/53288131/isbn-9780198277330-book-part-6.pdf

Abstract The word ‘person’ is derived from the Latin persona, ‘mask’. In modem English the word ‘person’ usually refers to an individual being. ‘Mask’ and ‘person’ have become opposed. The mask is thought to hide a person, not to reveal him. Yet the relation between a mask and the person who wears it is usually more complex. A mask may hide someone by providing him with a new identity, but it may also represent someone’s true identity. Thus the mask can reveal what the face hides, and it can hide what the face reveals. The use of masks in play and ritual usually provides an insight into the relations between different perspectives on human identity.