Art

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Chapter 15

• Art

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What We Will Learn

• How do anthropologists define the arts?
• What are the various functions of art in society?
• How do music and dance reflect other aspects of a
  culture?

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Cross Cultural Definition of Art
Art Should .
Be creative and playful. Be unconcerned with practicality or usefulness of the object produced Produce an emotional response.
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Cross Cultural Definition of Art
Art Should .
Be transformational an image or idea transformed into a painting, dance, song, or poem. Make a symbolic statement about what is being portrayed.
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Art in Small-scale Societies

• Art is often left behind on rocks or cliffs or in
  forms that can be taken with them
• Performing arts (song, dance, and storytelling).
• body decoration, such as jewelry, body painting,
  tattooing, and scarification.
• artistic decorations on artifacts such as
  weapons, clothing, and food containers.

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Art in Complex Societies

• Associated with the elite.
• Often owned and controlled by the upper classes.
• Glorifies and serves the interests of the upper
  classes.

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Functions of Art

• Emotional Gratification for the Individual
• Contributes to Social Integration
• Social Control
• Preserving or Challenging the Status Quo

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Graphic And Plastic Arts

• The Western notion of graphic and plastic arts
  usually refers to painting, sculpture,
  printmaking, and architecture.
• The anthropological definition also includes such
  art forms as weaving, embroidery, tailoring,
  jewelry making, and tattooing and other forms of
  body decoration.

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Four Major Concerns of Ethnomusicology

• Ideas about music
• How cultures distinguish between music and
  nonmusic.
• The functions music has for the society.
• Whether music is seen as beneficial or harmful to
  the society.
• What constitutes beautiful music?
• On what occasions should music be played?

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Four Major Concerns of Ethnomusicology

• Social structure of music
• The social relationships between musicians.
• How a society distinguishes between musicians on
  the basis of age, gender, race,ethnicity, or
  education.

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Four Major Concerns of Ethnomusicology

• Characteristics of music
• How the style of music in different cultures
  varies (scale, melody, harmony, timing).
• The different musical genres that are found in a
  society (lullaby, sea chantey, hard rock, and so
  on).
• The nature of musical texts (words).
• How music is composed.
• How music is learned and transmitted.

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Four Major Concerns of Ethnomusicology

• Material culture of music
• The nature of the musical instruments found in a
  culture.
• Who makes musical instruments and how are they
  distributed?
• How are musical tastes reflected in the
  instruments used?

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Music Egalitarian Societies and Stratified
Societies
Egalitarian Societies Stratified Societies
Repetitious texts Nonrepetitious texts
Slurred articulation Precise articulation
Little solo singing Solo singing
Wide melodic intervals Narrow melodic intervals
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Music Egalitarian Societies and Stratified
Societies
Egalitarian Societies Stratified Societies
Nonelaborate songs (no embellishments) Elaborate songs (embellishments)
Few instruments Large number of instruments
Singing in unison Singing in simultaneously produced intervals
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Functions of Dance

• Psychological helping people cope more
  effectively with tensions and aggressive
  feelings.
• Political - expressing political values and
  attitudes, showing allegiance to political
  leaders, and controlling behavior.

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Functions of Dance

• Religiously various methods of communicating
  with supernatural forces.
• Socially - articulating and reinforcing
  relationships between members of the society.
• Educationally - passing on the cultural
  traditions, values, and beliefs from one
  generation to the next.

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Verbal Art

• Myths are stories of our search for significance,
  meaning, and truth.
• Legends are told as if they were true, but often
  are only partially true or not at all true. They
  attempt to explain the establishment of local
  customs, the movement of populations from one
  land to another, or the traits of folk heroes.
• Folktales have no particular basis in history and
  exist largely for the purpose of entertainment.

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Quick Quiz
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• 1. According to the text, art should make a
  symbolic statement about what is being portrayed.
  In other words, art should communicate
  information
• by being technically skilled.
• by being transformational.
• by being creative.
• by being representational.

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Answer d

• According to the text, art should make a symbolic
  statement about what is being portrayed. In other
  words, art should communicate information by
  being representational.

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• 2. The term primitive art is
• the best term we have for some forms of art.
• an accurate description of art from small-scale
  societies.
• a valid concept in that it directs
  classifications of art to recognize the skills
  and abilities of pre-modern peoples.
• not used because of its misleading connotations
  of both inferiority and evolutionary sequencing.

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Answer d

• The term primitive art is not used because of its
  misleading connotations of both inferiority and
  evolutionary sequencing.

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• 3. Art in small-scale societies is ________ to a
  greater degree in other aspects of the culture.
• developed
• imagined
• created
• embedded

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Answer d

• Art in small-scale societies is embedded to a
  greater degree in other aspects of the culture.

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• 4. Quite apart from whatever benefits art may
  have for the total society, it is generally
  agreed that art is a source of ________ for both
  the artist and the viewer.
• conversation
• pride
• personal gratification
• embarrassment

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Answer c

• Quite apart from whatever benefits art may have
  for the total society, it is generally agreed
  that art is a source of personal gratification
  for both the artist and the viewer.

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• 5. Because the human body is capable of a wide
  variety of movements, which body parts are active
  and which postures are assumed differ from one
  ________ tradition to another.
• rhythm
• dance
• music
• body art

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Answer b

• 5. Because the human body is capable of a wide
  variety of movements, which body parts are active
  and which postures are assumed differ from one
  dance tradition to another.