The Spirit's Image: The African Masking Tradition-Evolving Continuity

Linda Perry is a senior policy analyst at the Ontario Ministry of
Colleges and Universities.

For the reader who would like a beautifully produced, lavishly
illustrated coffee-table book on African masks, this is not it. The
cover, with full-color illustrations of masks and vibrant dancers,
promises a visual feast that fails to materialize. While there are
hundreds of photos and illustrations, they are in black and white; many
are doctored from aging negatives and all are extremely small.

For the lay reader who would like to learn some of the fascinating
aspects of the African masking tradition, this is not the book either.
The writer addresses an expert readership with a lengthy technical
analysis. Dagan’s pedantic style and exhaustive attention to detail
take the spirit out of The Spirit’s Image.

The book does provide information on the masking tradition, the
religious significance of masks and their use in performance, and the
geographical breakdown of mask production. However, the English and
French texts are presented in a cumbersome way: the reader is required
to alternate languages with every column of text and in the caption of
every illustration, with the overall result of bilingual boredom. It
would appear the book has a limited scholarly readership at best.