Common Visions, Common Voices
Introduction
The borders that separate and connect
different cultures often come into sharpest relief when we focus
on themes and motifs found in the literature or the visual arts
of several lands. With the Internet, students can discover such
points of intercultural contact for themselves, crossing borders
that can lead them to a broader perspective on the common vision
human cultures share.
Learning Objectives
To expand awareness of themes and motifs
common to many cultures; to encourage critical insight into
the ways cultural context influences creative expression;
to analyze and interpret the significance of themes and motifs
within distinct cultures; to organize and present a comparative
statement of findings.
1
Begin by reinforcing the concept of literary and artistic
themes and motifs. Ask your students for examples from American
or European literature that illustrate some familiar patterns
in fiction, such as the journey, metamorphosis, or a series
of heroic trials. Ask likewise for some persistent motifs
in the visual arts, such as the representation of landscape
and of the female and male forms. Explain that they will be
using the Internet to explore the arts of non-European cultures
for characteristic patterns and motifs.
Focus initially on the visual arts by having
students examine four artworks that portray a male and female
couple:
- A terracotta
figurine from the Mayan culture (c. 700-900) showing
an old man embracing a young woman. (In the "African,
Oceanic, and New World Cultures" Collection of the Detroit
Institute of Art, scroll down the page and click on "Precolumbian
Art." Then scroll down this page and under the category
"Life and Death," click on the image of the "Embracing Couple.")
- A Native American feast
bowl (Cherokee or Iroquois, c. 1800) with its two handles
carved in the shape of male and female heads. (Also in the
"African, Oceanic, and New World Cultures" Collection of
the Detroit Institute of Art.)
- A wooden
sculpture from western Sudan showing a man with his
arm around a woman. (Accessible through African Studies
WWW; in the "Africa Web Links" directory choose "Arts and
Architecture," then look for the "Art and Life in Africa
Project" and choose the exhibit on "Marriage and Eligibility.")
- An Indian temple carving (c. 700)
of a mithuna
or loving couple. (Accessible through SARAI; in the "India
Resources" directory choose "Art and Culture," then look
for "World Art Treasures" and choose the exhibit on "India.")
2
Divide the class into small research
teams and provide each with an opportunity to study the four
artworks online. Have students first describe each piece in
detail, noting characteristics of design and appearance, as
well as similarities and differences among all four. Then
have students use the Internet or library resources to research
the culture that produced each artwork in order to determine
its significance for the people who created it. Students might,
for example, identify the two figures portrayed and explain
what they symbolize or represent; describe the artwork's cultural
setting or context and its function in community life; characterize
the relationship between the two figures and analyze the relationship
set up between the couple and those who interacted with the
artwork in its original setting. Have students present their
research in the form of a museum-style caption for each artwork.
3
When
students have completed their research, have each group report
its findings in a class discussion. Then ask students whether
there are common threads of meaning connecting these four
disparate examples of an artistic motif. Why do all four appeal
to us, even before we understand their cultural significance?
What meaning do they retain even outside their cultural context?
Would they retain this meaning if shuffled among the cultures
that produced them? What basic human emotions and experiences
do they tap into? (You might explore also the degree to which
we impose our sentiments on these artworks by setting them
up as examples of a persistent artistic motif, and the degree
to which we appropriate them to our own cultural purposes
by treating them as aesthetic objects rather than as the instruments
of religion and ritual they were intended to be.)
4
Following this class discussion, have
each student write a short interpretative essay on the significance
of the "couples" motif, drawing evidence both from these four
artworks and from examples in the European tradition, such
as images of Adam and Eve, or Grant Wood's American Gothic,
or even the portraits of couples regularly published in the
wedding announcement section of most newspapers.
5
Depending on your curriculum, you may
wish to repeat or replace this lesson with one focusing on
story motifs from several non-European cultures. Trickster
stories can be revealing in this respect.
- You will find a selection of Native
American trickster stories featuring Coyote at the NativeWeb
"Resource Center;" in the "Arts and Humanities" directory
select "Literature," then look under "Short Stories - Traditional."
- A collection of Mayan
trickster stories featuring Rabbit can be found at the
LANIC website; in the Subject Directory select "Literature,"
then choose "Indigenous People's Literature" and look under
"Stories."
- Rabbit also stars in an Ethiopian
trickster story accessible through the African Studies
WWW website; in the "Resource List" select "K-12," then
choose "Tales of Wonder" and look under "Africa."
6
Have students read these stories, online
or in print out form, then divide the class into study groups
to research the cultures and countries in which these folktales
are told. In performing this research, students should be
aware that these stories come to us through a still vibrant
oral tradition, which means that while they reflect the heritage
of their respective cultures, they can also reflect the outlook
and concerns that mark these cultures today. Rather than place
the trickster stories in a context of the remote and "primitive"
past, students should aim in their research, and in their
interpretation of the stories, to see them as representative
of indigenous cultures that have adapted to new conditions
today by preserving their cultural values. As part of their
research, have students identify the values expressed in each
group of stories - i.e., the character traits exhibited by
the trickster and whether these traits are admired or ridiculed;
what the stories imply about the responsibilities of an individual
toward his or her community; what the stories imply about
authority figures and their power within society.
7
After they have completed their research,
have each study group lead a class discussion of one story,
providing background on its cultural origins and eliciting
comment on its distinctive treatment of the trickster motif.
Conclude this discussion by asking students for examples of
the trickster in American culture - e.g., Tom Sawyer, Ramona
Quimby, Lucy Ricardo, Bugs Bunny, etc. Have students offer
reasons why this figure is so often found in children's literature?
What happens when the trickster appears in the adult sphere
of action (e.g., Falstaff)? To close the lesson, have each
student write and deliver orally an original trickster story
reflecting the values and concerns of his or her culture.
Extending the Lesson
Ask students to give two examples of
other intercultural artistic motifs using the resources available
at EDSITEment as well as traditional print resources in your
school or at a local public library. Students might also visit
art museums in your area or contact people in your community
who are knowledgeable about non-European cultures, particularly
those informed about current developments in these artistic
traditions. Students who pursue a visual motif across cultural
borders can produce a bulletin board or web page exhibit of
the artworks they collect, along with a descriptive catalog
that introduces the motif and explains its varied significance.
Those who explore a literary motif can produce an anthology,
again with an introduction explaining the motif's character
and significance.
Standards Alignment
View your state’s standards
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