vienna

Maybe in former times people would have created masks with
stunning grimaces to celebrate the period of bargaining, and processions
would be held in the big shopping streets. Thousands of
people would celebrate the ritual period of thrift. Masks are related
to power. The fixed expression on the face of a god becomes a figure
that does not change and is the image that will be worshiped. Elias
Canetti, describing the obdurate nature of the mask, said that the
mask is the opposite of the permanently changing expressions of our
face; it is rigid and constant. The mask does not transform, its power
comes from the fixed meaning:
“The more distinct it is, the darker everything else. No-one knows
what may not burst forth from behind the mask. The tension created
by the contrast between its appearance and the secret it hides can
become extreme. This is the real reason for the terror the mask
inspires. ‘I am exactly what you see’ it proclaims ‘and everything you
fear is behind me.’ The mask fascinates and, at the same time, it
enforces distance. No-one dares to lay violent hands on it; if anyone
but the wearer tears it off, he is punished by death.” 533
Those who wear the masks have to ensure that their real identity
is protected. The mask creates a fear that does not come from the
actor. The mask is like a weapon. But even the actor has to take care;
under no circumstances may he lose the mask, 534 for the mask is
a weapon for influencing the masses. And in the mass, humans beings
do not think logically, but in intuitive, in totemic images. 535 According
to Werner Jetter, symbolic communication has four properties: (1)
Symbolic communication is simple. It is easy to understand, because
the material it is built on is quite basic. (2) Symbolic communication
is complex. Its layers of meaning do not unfold one after another, but
at the same time. Conscious and unconscious are transmitted at the
same time, thus the expression can be more complex than language.
(3) Symbolic language trespasses, and limitations of class and different
world-views do not hinder the communication process. (4) Symbolic
communication does not formulate solutions, but involves participation
in approaching the symbolically expressed truth. 536 These insights
come from religious studies. And as our new religion is consumption,
it comes as no surprise that this knowledge has been incorporated
533 Canetti (1973:376).
534 Canetti (1973:377).
535 Warnke (1980:148) is quoting Gustave Le Bon and his psychology of the masses from 1895.
536 Jetter (1978:48ff.)
Mönckeberg Straße
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