University of Jos
Faculty of Art
Department of theatre and film Art
Name: Esther Ojochenemi Abalaka
Matric No: uj/2017/Ar/0142
Course Title: Theories of Modern theatre and film.
Course code: TFA 309.
Assignment question.
Do a critical reading of this and bring up a theory that explains this.
Introduction.
Looking at the above image, one could assume that the man in the image, is a masquerade. This is not far from the truth but a critical look at the image, you could see the exact qualities and characteristics of a fetishist. Therefore, the theory gotten from the picture is that of fetishism.
The theory of Fetishism.
Fetishism can be defined as Worship of an inanimate object for its supposed magical powers or because it is considered to be inhabited by a spirit. Fetishism was created through the veneration or worship of an object that is attributed some power or capacity, independently of its manifestation of that capacity.
However, through the very process of attribution the object may indeed manifest those powers; the specialness with which the object is treated makes it special. The fetish object will, for example, influence the lives of its human worshippers, determining some of their actions and modifying their beliefs. In this process the object is mediating the powers delegated to it by worshippers. As with all mediation, the fetish is not merely reflecting back the ideas and beliefs of its worshippers, it is transforming them or, in the language of actor-network theory, 'translating' them (Callon 1991). The power of the fetish is not reducible to its material form any more than the meaning of a word can be reduced to its material representation (its sound or graphic shape). The symbolic power of the fetish can be repeated or replicated provided that there is some basis for continuity that is recognisable to the worshipper. The graven image can be copied, the form of the animal is repeated in each.
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