What is expressive culture?
the ways in which human behaviour is thought and expressed.
What are the mediums of expressive culture?
art, music, crafts, architecture, garden, play, games and leisure
What concepts are connected to expressive culture?
- livelihoods
- religious and social norms
- ethnic, cultural, religious and political identity
- struggles and resistance
- power and dominancy
What is art?
Debates but we will say art is the application of imagination, skill, and style to matter, movement, and sound that goes beyond the purely practical.
How does western culture differentiate between art and non art?
Enlightenment ideology has influenced conceptions of art, defines based on aesthetics, perceived level of skill, connection to institution.
What does western culture define as fine art?
Art created by a formally schooled artist, that is made for sale, unique and not for everyday use.
What does western culture define as folk art?
Art not produced for market, for everyday uses made by artist with no formal training.
What are the forms of art in western culture?
Graphic arts (painting, sculpture, architecture, engraving, etc…), decorative arts (interior design, gardening…), performance art (music, dance, jokes, etc..).
What are ethno-aesthetics?
Culturally specific definitions of art viewed through culturally specific established criteria.
What is an example of ethno-aesthetics?
Yoruba wood carving has specific guidelines which include: optimal physical peak, clear line and form, symmetry, figures depicted halfway between realism and abstraction.
What are some examples of cultures that are identified by their artworks?
- berbers: woolen carpet
- maya: woven and embroidered blouses
- inuit: stone carvings
- australian aboriginal: wood caring
- The Gullah culture: sweet-grass baskets
Who was the influential figure in studying art? Why?
Franz Boas. Said to study art from artist’s perspective.
What are the focuses of art in anthropology?
- social functions of arts
- context of art making
- study art from the artist’s perspectives
- Artist’s place in the society
- cross cultural understanding of art
What is a Shikha?
Female performer
What are some social functions of art? (functionalist analysis)
- socializing children into the culture
- communication of personal and group identity
- legitimization of political leaders, especially in times of war
- commonly represent dominant, normal, powerful and hegemonic concepts
- catalyst for political resistance and social change
What are cultural meanings of leisure events? (i.e. super bowl)
Olympic games: advertisement for you country
Indian wrestling: spirituality
Expressive culture is studied by looking at what?
- social stratification
- colonialism
- globalization
- commodification
- and a form of resistence
What is ethnomusicology?
Cross cultural study of music. Focuses on music itself, social position of musicians and how it interacts with other domains of culture.
How does music and gender manifest among the Temiar of Malaysia?
Temiar are foragers with an even distribution of gendered power, their music traditions reflect that culture.
What is Kathakali?
Ritual dance in Southern India where performers are transformed into one of several well known characters from Indian mythology.
How was architecture studied in japan?
Resenberger studied home decorating magazines and found that they were targeted towards middle and upper class households. They express the importance of modern design and abandon traditional japanese design elements (tatami mats, shoji mats, susuma sliding wall panels).
What is heterotopia?
Formed from elements drawn for multiple and diverse contexts
What is play?
Has no direct use, limited in terms of time, has rules, tension and chance.
What does Clifford Geetz say about games and sports?
They are models of culture.
