Expressive cultureArt and superstructureSlide 3Culture and … cultureBody art is universalThe most ancient artRice and PattersonFear and loving in the PaleolithicPrimitive artFischer’s hypothesisSlide 11Art and practicalityAncient Greek vase artSlide 14Slide 15Meaning and folkloreUniversal themes in folkloreSlide 18Music and structural correlatesLomax’s study of musicSlide 21Lomax’s findingsSlide 23Barbara Ayres on music and structureSlide 25Slide 26John Roberts’ study of gamesThree kinds of gamesSports and structureTeam sportsTeam sports are Native AmericanAncient ball game and rubberGamblingSyncretismTourist artAlebrijesExpressive cultureThe most superstructural feature of culture is expressive behavior. Expressive culture comprises visual arts, music, dance, games, folklore, and ritual.Art and superstructureExpressive culture clearly appeals to the emotional needs of producers and consumers.But expressive culture is the most superstructural feature of culture.If sex roles, for example, or mental illness have some biological basis, there is no argument for it with expressive behavior, other than the capacity for abstract expression itself.The emotional component, however, is plastic: Where does the emotional component of art come from? Is it a random event? Is it rule driven?If it is rule driven, then superstructure, at some level of time, and to some degree, reflects structural and infrastructural components of society.Culture and … cultureMusic, dance, visual art, and games and folklore all are driven by the structural and infrastructural parts of society to some degree – at the macro level.Body art is universalBody art is universal and, in addition to simple adornment, may be used to denote sex differences, rank, occupation, ethnicity, or religion Body decorations or modifications, attachments, and clothing are used in many societies as sexual attractors: ears, neck, lips, tattoos, beardsThe most ancient artAncient cave art of the Magdalenian, Perigoridan, and Azilian Lascaux FranceEkain SpainRice and PattersonPatricia Rice and Ann Patterson examined the animal bones in 90 caves where late Paleolithic art is found Most common bones: bovines, horse, reindeer, ibex, deer, mammoth Most common paintings: reindeer, horse, bovines, deer, ibex, mammothFear and loving in the PaleolithicFor the number of portrayals and the percentage of bone matter, r=.41. But larger species (mammoth, horse, bison) are overportrayed. The correlation between species weight and bone prevalence is r=.76 19 experts ranked species for danger in hunting. For average ranked danger and species weight, r=.96Primitive artIn light of everything you’ve learned this semester, what can be said of the term “primitive art”?Many Western artists incorporated so-called primitive elements in their work: Stravinsky, Picasso, Gaugin, ChavezFischer’s hypothesisEgalitarian societies have art based on repetition of simple elements and plenty of empty space.The art of stratified societies combines elements into complex designs and tends toward a more baroque style.Egalitarian StratifiedRepetition of simple elements Integration of diverse elementsempty space filled spacesymmetrical design asymmetrical designUnenclosed figures Enclosed figuresArt and practicalityArt is part of everyday life in most societies, as is religion, kinship, economics, and politics.Why is modern Western art valued for originality and obscurity of meaning?Harris: mass production, capitalism, and commercialization has led to individ-ualistic, secular art as part of our everyday life.Ancient Greek vase artAncient Greek society went from egalitarian to highly stratified between 1000 BCE and 450 BCE – and the vases became crowded and complex, with enclosed art. Dressler and Robbins 1975Meaning and folklore“If a mythology gives prominence to evil grandmothers, then people say ‘in that society, grandmothers are evil’ and the myths reflect reality. But if there is conflict between myth and observed behavior, then clever people talk about myth expressing ‘repressed feelings,’ or whatever” (Claude Levi-Strauss 1967:203).Universal themes in folkloreClyde Kluckhohn: five recurrent themes in folklore around the world: catastrophe (mostly floods)slaying of monstersIncestsibling rivalrycastration.These universal themes are not equally likely to be found in any given place.Alex Cohen, for example, found that unprovoked aggression is associated with unpredictable food shortages and that in societies with such shortages, natural catastrophes are not likely to be mentioned.GMusic and structural correlatesAlan Lomax studied folk song style around the world, using a corpus of 3,500 songs. He found a relationship between social complexity and stylistic elements of music, just as Fischer did with art.Lomax’s study of musicFor example, wordiness and clarity of enunciation is associated with stratified societies. These societies depend on wordiness for job performance and for maintaining a highly diverse occupational structure.Lomax’s hypothesis: complex instruction is expressed in complex songs.By contrast, hunters and gatherers all know their roles and engage in song for its own sake and for the simple pleasure of singing. In other words, the music does not serve the purpose of validating social structural complexity. H/G songs are characterized by repetition of a few simple elements, by relaxed rendition – tra la, tra la, etc.Lomax’s findingsH/G societies have no leaders in songIntermediate societies (ranked leader, with no real power, like the Big Men societies of Papua and the Yanomami of the Amazon), have leaders who START songs, just as a Yanomami leader starts sweeping his village center and hopes that by example he can get others to follow (see Kottak).Highly stratified societies have soloists and leaders of songs – virtuosos – reflecting the structure of society in economic and political spheres of action.Finally, Lomax found that counterpoint and polyphony are NOT the products of our so-called high culture, but of women in societies where women contribute at least half or more of the total food.Conversely, men sing most in societies that have low contribution by women for subsistence – like the Eskimos.Barbara Ayres on music and structureIn societies that