This volume focuses on the process of un/masking rather than on the object of the mask, and highlights the performative aspects that render masks catalysts of transition and transformation. Through its ability to simultaneously hide and reveal, the act of un/masking has the power to destabilize supposedly fixed identities and to blur the lines between the self and the other, the visible and the invisible, life and death. In this sense, masks are ambiguous, liminal objects, marking a condition of ‘in-between’ that is both a point of separation and a line of contact. Masking and unmasking are thus intertwined and cannot be neatly separated.

A common trope of thinking associates the mask with lying and dissimulation, pinned on the face as a new site of truth. This understanding of the mask, prevalent in Western culture, plays on dichotomies such as depth and surface, truth and illusion, authenticity and deception. These dichotomies are both explored and challenged in the articles that comprise Un/Masking.

In addressing both historical and contemporary phenomena, we hope to participate in a theoretical discourse on un/masking and to offer new perspectives on current debates surrounding issues such as protective masks and facial recognition technologies. To match the incredible variety of cultural contexts in which masks play a crucial role – from ancient theatrical practices to digital technologies, to ritual, artistic, and literary activities throughout the world – this volume takes a decidedly interdisciplinary approach to understanding the act of un/masking and what it can mean today.

With contributions by Laurette Burgholzer, Joyce Cheng, Tobias Döring, Sarah Hegenbart, Bethan Hughes, Judith Kemp, Christiane Lewe, W. Anthony Sheppard, Bernhard Siegert, Anja Wächter, and Eleonore Zapf.