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Throughout history the concept of a "mall" has manifested itself in various forms. Malls provided once and continue to provide an opportunity for ostentation and observation in a constructed environment. Ranelagh Gardens is an example of such an environment. It is an Eighteenth Century London pleasure garden devoted exclusively to the acts of exhibiting one's self and beholding others, a sort of celebratory act of mutual affirmation. These gardens were frequented by various elements of London society, from royalty to the middle class. All sorts of boundaries were further blurred through the ritual of the masquerade, which flourished at Ranelagh. After examining the various devices employed to that end, I will look into the parallels of such interaction in our increasingly virtual society.

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Dept. of Art History. Includes bibliographical references.

Magister Artium - MA

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M. Tech. / My research, in support of my cultural practice approaches the notion of masquerade from the position of battered women who employ it socially as a vehicle that allows them to perform the traditionalist ‘happily-ever-after’ fantasy of marriage. I propose that their ‘masquerade’ functions as a performance of what they perceive they should be in the public domain, and as a defence against punishment in the private domain. Central to my research are interviews with battered women who masquerade socially, from a select group who have been battered for most of their married lives. In a response to these interviews, I refer to the prevalence of battery in South Africa and propose a psychological rationale for social masquerade in these particular battered women. As the masquerade of these women informs my art production I have included a discussion of alternative expressions of masquerade in the work of two artists, Tracey Rose and Cindy Sherman. This forms a counterpoint to the use of masquerade as explained in my own cultural practice, which highlights the importance of dress as an adjunct to communication and disguise.

Nyau Masquerades have been studied by missionaries, anthropologists and religious specialists, but have seldom been documented by theatre and performance specialists. This dissertation argues for the acceptance of Ny au performance as a contemporary world theatre form rooted in tradition. Charting the uneasy relationship between the Nyau and those who have sought to record their performances, the author delineates a vivid dramaturgy of this art form. In doing so, the boundaries of what define theatre as it has traditionally been understood in dominant discourses are made more fluid. Nyau performances have been affected by Colonial processes in varied ways. They were banned by the former government of Northern Rhodesia and severely censored by Catholic Mission teachings in the former Nyasaland. Other forms of vilification have been more subtle. Information about performance in Africa has often been collected and arranged in ways which limit the understanding of these genres. Images of Africa which cluster around the notion of the 'Primitive Other' have enabled a representation of Ny au masking as a superstitious and outdated practice with no relevance for contemporary Africa. This work calls for a new examination of the Nyau, through the lens of local discourse as well as contemporary global understandings of performance. Chapter One examines the issue of primitivism and the ways in which Africa has historically been posited as the exotic Other to Europe. Chapter Two examines the Nyau ih terms of specific dramaturgical elements, adjusting previous misconceptions surrounding the theatr~ forms of Chewa and Nyanja people. Chapter Three is devoted to a discussion of space in ritual theatre and Nyau performance, while Chapter Four explores masking and questions of transformation and liminality. In conclusion, it is seen that the use of the mask is a metaphor for the suspension of rigid boundaries separating subject/object, self/other, ritual/theatre, a suspension which needs to take place before an enriched understanding of performance in Africa can be reached.

Travestimento/travestitismo: Masquerade and Mischief in Boccaccio’s World examines Boccaccio’s use of masquerade to parody social conventions and invert the cultural themes characterizing fourteenth-century Italy. Its aim is to demonstrate the myriad ways in which the medieval author masks and unmasks characters—often using gender as performance—to gain access to either sublimated sexuality or forbidden power, and ultimately to reveal rather than conceal human nature. This study offers a close reading of the Ninfale fiesolano and five novellas (2.3, 2.9, 3.1, 3.2, and 4.2) of the Decameron, focusing on characters that go beyond their usual identity and/or the limits of their biological sex to occupy transgendered spaces. Today, our understanding of gender studies encompasses a far more inclusive understanding of the term “gender.” This dissertation begins with the concept that gender is fluid and performative, and that though the body may be fixed, its gender is not confined to restrictions imposed on it by society. Some of Boccaccio’s characters, accordingly, occupy multiple gendered spaces while assuming the identity of another sex, in particular Zinevra/Sicurano, the abbot/princess, and Africo (Chapters Two, Three, and Four). Although far from the transformations found in the mythological world of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s tales offer the “metamorphosis” of the masquerade, that is, a false outward show, a pretense, or façade that oftentimes is achieved through disguise or costume. My analysis considers how masquerade in this way (travestimento) — or in its more radical form of cross-dressing (travestitismo) — paradoxically offers access to the more authentic aims of the protagonists. Although critics have written on deception in the Decameron, they have not dealt thoroughly with the trope of masquerade and have altogether ignored the concept of transvestism. Travestimento/travestitismo: Masquerade and Mischief in Boccaccio’s World advances our understanding of gender and identity in Boccaccio’s work to show that his ideas may help us understand not only the Middle Ages, but also our own epoch.