The Great American Masquerade

Download or read book The Great American Masquerade written by Harold Lowther Beaver and published by Barnes & Noble Imports. This book was released on 1985 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American culture, by definition, lacked a coherent identity. The new-found man was necessarily initiated into an intricate masquerade, whose postures often seemed grotesque in comparison to the more staid contentions of transatlantic visitors. The carnival tradition of America, asserts the author of this volume, insists on an inexhaustible play of mobility, transformation and fun. Such masks may be festal masks of joyous regeneration, or secretive masks hiding nothing but vacuum or dread. The essays in this book explore that dichotomy.