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Dances of Anáhuac--for God or Man? An Alternative Way of Thinking about Prehistory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2014

Judith Lynne Hanna
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Abstract

The purpose of this essay on Dances of Anáhuac by Gertrude P. Kurath and Samuel Marti is twofold: to assess the authors' explanation for the existence of dance as a behavioral phenomenon in Mexican prehistory, and to assess the use of dance representation--objectification of a transient phenomenon in ceramic, lithic, or painting form--as correlative data in understanding processual change in time and space. To reach these goals, I will evaluate how Kurath and Marti meet their stated objectives, indicating some of the problems, and then suggest a complementary hypothesis for the purpose, development, and change in dance. My argument for this hypothesis is derived from theories dealing with a particular conceptualization of dance (including its intrinsic properties which allow it to function as an affective and cognitive semiotic system), persuasive communication, socio-political change (stratification and integration) in general and in Anáhuac, and art iconography. These will be discussed as well as some considerations for testing the hypothesis.

Type
Articles
Information
Dance Research Journal , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , Fall/Winter 1975 , pp. 13 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © Congress on Research in Dance 1975

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