Book

The Hopi ritual clown: life as it should not be

University MicrofilmsAnn Arbor, MichiganPublished In 1973 • Pages:

By: Hieb, Louis A..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this source the ritual clowns of the Hopi of northeastern Arizona are analyzed. The seven types of clowns and their antics are described in detail. The role of the clowns and clowning during Kachina ceremonies (especially dances), and the relation of the clown to the Kachinas, are also treated. More generally, ritual clowning is placed in the context of Hopi ethics as the author details how the clowns engage in and are punished for foolish antics. The clowns thus play the role of humorous ethicists. Also included in the piece is a theoretical discussion of humor and clowns. A brief historical sketch of the Hopi and the Hopi ritual calendar serve as background to the treatment of ritual clowning. The source concludes with a general discussion of humor and joking relationships.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Humor
Dance
Representative art
Music
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Hopi
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southwest and Basin
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Christopher Latham ; 1988
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
summer of 1969, June 1970-July 1971
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1969-1971
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Hopi Reservation, northeastern Arizona, United States
NotesAdditional notes
Louis Albert Hieb
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Princeton, 1972
UM 72-24, 681
Information on the clowns is indexed for Humor (522). Information on Kachina dances and masks can be found in Categories 535 and 532, respectively.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 254-266)
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Hopi Indians