I spoke as part of the Metaphors seminar series, held by the Institute for Postcolonial Studies and the Center for Law, Arts and Humanities at the Australian National University.
A recording is available here: https://ipcs.org.au/recording/pandemic-metaphors/
The mask and the face it covers
During the pandemic, 'the mask' became an accessory (for DIY types), a necessity (for healthcare workers), a hard fought commodity (for well-off countries), and in some parts of the world (the US), the decision to wear it or not, a political statement. Yet the focus on debates as to whether the mask is in fact effective or not in slowing pandemics such as those now upon us miss a vital question. What are the broader meanings of the 'mask'? How does the act of 'masking' reflect or present possibilities for collective action? This presentation considers these questions of the mask as metaphor and as political concept via anthropological engagement with the meanings of ‘the mask’ and related concept of the 'face.' I do so by drawing on fieldwork in Indonesia (2008 to present), a context where, in the words of Benedict Anderson, the face itself might be considered a 'built in mask.' The paper thus investigates the meaning of the face/mask during the pandemic ethnographically. I first define the ethnographic concept of 'dandan' — especially as used by Indonesian trans- women — a category for 'making up' through the repeated, daily effort to improve the appearance of the body through application of feminine makeup and clothing. I draw on these sources to consider how we might imagine masks less as signifier of citizenship premised on individual responsibility in the name of life as an absolute value, and more as a means of collective envisioning. Against a backdrop of securitization and intensification of punitive state surveillance, reconsidering the mask anthropologically might help to transform it into a more hopeful metaphor.
