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Fall 2016 ANTHR 485/585-A4
ANTHROPOLOGY OF ART
Marko Zivkovic Tuesday & Thursday 11:00AM-12:20PM BS B 121 Office: Tory 13-28 Office hours: Monday 11:30AM-12:30PM E-mail: [email protected] or by appointment (e-mail only)
This course will review classical anthropological studies of “primitive art” and major types of questions they pose – the function(s) of art, the social position of art-producers, the politics of artistic presentation, the sociology of aesthetic judgments, the social agency of art objects, and the formal analysis of art as diagnostic of larger social/cultural patterns. We will explore the
ambivalence of anthropology toward modern Western art, and its uneasy (but potentially fruitful) dialogue with established disciplines that take various art genres as objects of historical/theoretical studies (i.e. art history/theory, philosophy of art, musicology, visual studies, film theory/history).
Requirements will include a short mid-term exercise (30% of grade) due on October 4 in class, a final paper (50% of grade), and an in-class group presentation. The students will have to submit a short written proposal for the final paper topic by November 15. Contribution to class discussions (including in-class group presentation) will carry 20% of the grade.
The following books are available for purchase in the bookstore:
Morphy, Howard and Morgan Perkins, eds. 2006. The Anthropology of Art: A Reader. Blackwell.
Gell, Alfred. 1998. Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Baxandall, Michael. 1988. Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy. Oxford: Oxford UP
WEEK I
SEPTEMBER 1 INTRODUCTION
WEEK II ANIMAL AND HUMAN UNIVERSALS SEPTEMBER 6 PREHUMAN INTIMATIONS
Scharfstein, Ben-Ami. 1988. Prehuman Intimations. In Of Birds, Beasts, and Other Artists: An Essay on the Universality of Art. New York and London: New York University Press. pp. 35-81.
SEPTEMBER 8 PSYCHOLOGICAL ROOTS
Devereux, George. 1961. Art and Mythology: A General Theory. In Studying Personality Cross- Culturally, edited by B. Kaplan. New York: Harper & Row. pp. 361-386; or in Art and aesthetics in primitive societies, edited by Carol F. Jopling. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1971. pp. 193-224.
2 WEEK III NW COAST
SEPTEMBER 13 PAPA BOAS
Boas, Franz. 1951 [1927]. Primitive Art. Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Capitol Publishing Co. pp.
9-31, 62-87, 155-160, 219-225, 280-281, 300-303, 340-356.
SEPTEMBER 15 SURREALISTS & STRUCTURALISTS
Carpenter, Edmund. 1976. Introduction: Collecting Northwest Coast Art. In Bill Holm and Bill Reid. Indian Art of the Northwest Coast: A Dialogue on Craftsmanship and Aesthetics. Seattle:
University of Washington Press. pp. 9-27.
Levi-Strauss, Claude. 1963. Split Representation in the Art of Asia and America. Chapter 2 the Blackwell Anthropology of Art Reader. pp. 56-73. Also in his Structural Anthropology.
WEEK IV AFRICA
SEPTEMBER 20 TRADITIONAL ARTIST IN AFRICAN SOCIETIES
Thompson, Robert Farris. 1989. Yoruba Artistic Criticism. In Traditional Artist in African Societies, edited by W. L. d'Azevedo. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 19-61. Also, Chapter 14 in the Blackwell Anthropology of Art Reader. pp. 242-269.
Fernandez, James W. 1989. The Exposition and Imposition of Order: Artistic Expression in Fang Culture. In Traditional Artist in African Societies. pp. 194-220.
SEPTEMBER 22 HOW TO SING PRAISES TO YOUR CATTLE?
Coote Jeremy. 1992. “Marvels of Everyday Vision”: The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-keeping Nilotes. Chapter 16 in the Blackwell Anthropology of Art Reader. pp. 281-301.
Gell, Alfred. 1985. On Coote’s “Marvels of Everyday Vision.” Social analysis Vol. 38: 18-30.
Reprinted in Gell, A. 1999. The Art of Anthropology: Essays and Diagrams. London & New Brunswick, NJ: The Athlone Press. pp. 215-231.
WEEK V AUSTRALIA
SEPTEMBER 27 HOW TO TRAP A SHARK?
Morphy, Howard. 2006. From Dull to Brilliant: The Aesthetics of Spiritual Power Among the Yolngu. Chapter 17 in the Blackwell Anthropology of Art Reader. pp. 302-320.
Gell, Alfred. 1996. Vogel's Net: Traps as Artworks and Artworks as Traps. Journal of Material Culture 1 (1):15-38. Also, Chapter 13 in the Blackwell Anthropology of Art Reader. pp. 219-236.
SEPTEMBER 29 FROM SAND TO ACRYLIC
Munn, Nancy. 1966. Visual Categories: An Approach to the Study of Representation Systems.
American Anthropologist 68 (4):936-950. Also, Chapter 18 in the Blackwell Anthropology of Art Reader. pp. 326-338.
Myers, Fred. 2006. Representing Culture: The Production of Discourse(s) for Aboriginal Acrylic Painting. Chapter 27 in the Blackwell Anthropology of Art Reader. pp. 495-512.
3 WEEK VI GREGORY BATESON & ALFRED GELL
OCTOBER 4 BATESON: STYLE, GRACE, AND INFORMATION [MID-TERM EXERCISE DUE]
Bateson, Gregory. 1972. Style, Grace, and Information in Primitive Art. In Steps to an Ecology of Mind. New York: Balantine Books. 128-156. Also, Chapter 4 in the Blackwell Anthropology of Art Reader. pp. 78-90.
OCTOBER 6 GELL: THE TECHNOLOGY OF ENCHANTMENT
Gell, Alfred. 1992. The Technology of Enchantment and the Enchantment of Technology. In Anthropology, Art, and Aesthetics, edited by J. Coote and A. Shelton. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
40-63 N72.S6 A65 1992 Also in his The Art of Anthropology.
WEEK VII ALFRED GELL: ART & AGENCY OCTOBER 11 ART & AGENCY I
Gell, Alfred. 1998. Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp.
1-27, 66-72, 80-83, 94-95 & 155-168.
OCTOBER 13 ART & AGENCY II
Gell, Alfred. 1998. Art and Agency. pp. 215-258.
WEEK VIII
OCTOBER 18 THE PERIOD EYE
Baxandall, Michael. 1988. Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy: A Primer in the Social History of Pictorial Style. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1-108.
OCTOBER 20 ART AS A CULTURAL SYSTEM
Geertz, Clifford. 1983. Art as a Cultural System. In Local Knowledge. London: Fontana Press.
WEEK IX
OCTOBER 25 SOCIOLOGY OF ART: BOURDIEU
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Translated by R.
Nice. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. pp. 1-35 & 485-500.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1993. Ch. 10. The Historical Genesis of a Pure Aesthetic. In The field of cultural production: essays on art and literature. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 254-266 + notes (303-305).
OCTOBER 27 KITSCH AND CAMP [OVERVIEW OF GROUP PRESENTATIONS]
Calinescu, Matei. 1976. The benevolent monster: reflections on 'KITSCH' as an aesthetic concept. Clio 6 (1):3-21.
Sontag, Susan. 1964. Notes on Camp. http://www.bradleypaul.com/sontag.html
4 WEEK X
NOVEMBER 1 T.B.A.
NOVEMBER 3 T.B.A.
FALL BREAK NOV 7-11
WEEK XII
NOVEMBER 15 GROUP PRESENTATION (FINAL PAPER PROPOSALS DUE IN CLASS) NOVEMBER 17 NO CLASS (AAA MEETINGS)
WEEK XIII
NOVEMBER 22 GROUP PRESENTATION
NOVEMBER 24 GROUP PRESENTATION
WEEK XIII
NOVEMBER 29 GROUP PRESENTATION
DECEMBER 1 GROUP PRESENTATION
WEEK XIV
DECEMBER 6 GROUP PRESENTATION
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Policy about course outlines can be found in ' 23.4(2) of the University Calendar. (GFC 29 SEP 2003).
Statements regarding student conduct from the office of the Dean of Arts
“The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.” (GFC 29 SEP 2003)
Specialized Support and Disability Services (SSDS):
Some specialized support services for students who require accommodations in this course due to disabilities affecting mobility, vision, hearing, learning, or mental or physical health are available in conjunction with Specialized Support and Disability Services, 2-800 Students' Union Building, 492-3381 (phone) or 492-7269 (TTY).
