Lesson Plan : Lesson Plan Close reading of Gundaker article
“Tradition and Innovation in African-American Yards” African Arts (April 1993) 26 (2):58-71, 94-95) with discussion
Presentation of Annapolis “crystal cache”
Team development of preliminary research design –
How would you go about researching topic of African-American yardscapes for the near Westside?
African-American Yardscapes : African-American Yardscapes
Why are we looking at these spaces? : Why are we looking at these spaces?
Why are we looking at these spaces? : Why are we looking at these spaces? relevance for Near Westside research projects and community-based archaeology
example of “close reading” as general critical thinking skill
introduce discussion of “vernacular” landscapes
consider commonalities and differences among culturally specific landscapes and what is the connection between individual and group
consider the implications of ethnographic research for archaeological sites
reflect on the multivalence of objects and the construction of meaning
perhaps to change your view of how to “read” yards different from your own experience
What is an “African-American yard”? : What is an “African-American yard”? “Across the United States, and especially in the south, some African Americans decorate, dress, or work their yards using a flexible visual vocabulary that creolizes and revitalizes American, European, and African traditions through everyday materials – tires, stones, twine, pinwheels, plumbing, planters, toys, and auto parts.” (Gundaker 1993:58)
Why study African-American yards? : Why study African-American yards? “I understand ‘dressing a yard’ as transforming the functions and meanings of objects and the whole site, not mere surface decorating.” (Gundaker 1993:59)
Charlie Lucas: : Charlie Lucas: “It’s just castoff stuff people throw away. Like people who’ve been cast off, and everybody thinks they’re worth nothing. I’ve been there. Beat up, broken, down at the bottom. But I had this dream in my head, and that made me more than a piece of junk.” (Gundaker 1993:60)
What are Gundaker’s sources of data? : What are Gundaker’s sources of data?
What are Gundaker’s sources of data? : What are Gundaker’s sources of data? fieldwork including visual analysis of yards, photography, interviews
historical research including primary and secondary sources
What is the structure of her argument/analysis? : What is the structure of her argument/analysis? Introduction
Historical background
Explaining modes of communication
Outlining recurring themes, organizing principles and spatial relationships
Closer examination of special seats and chairs
Conclusion
Modes of communication : Modes of communication “Yard communication is both multivalent and precise.”
signifying visually – the self-knowledge of the viewer indexes appropriate interpretations
redundancy – symbolic objects mutually reinforce a particular reading
allusion – when objects suggest actions (such as the soles of shoes nailed to a tree as if walking up the trunk) and speech (naming practices, puns like sole/soul, Bible verses, proverbs)
proximity – when objects are placed near or at the place or thing to be acted upon (boundaries, thresholds, mailboxes, steps walkways, trees, and flower beds.
Recurring themes : Recurring themes (draws on Robert Farris Thompson and his work on shared iconography and philosophy with traditions from the Central African Kingdom of Kongo)
rock boundaries
mirrors on the porch
jars or vessels placed by the main door
motion emblems
cosmograms (rendered as diamond or circle)
herbs or flowers within the protective circle of a tire, sometimes whitewashed
root sculptures. found images, dolls, plaster sculptures, stuffed animals
trees hung with shiny bottles, light bulbs, tin foil, shiny metal disks
swept-earth yards
graveyard-like decoration including shells, pipes rock piles, head markers
plantings of protective herbs
Recurring themes : Recurring themes displays of skills (ex. topiary, masonry)
iron bars and tools
clothing – frequently for extremities (hats, shoes, socks, gloves)
color – white on vessels, figures and borders, combinations such as blue, red, and white, blue and yellow, black and white, black and red. Specific color symbolism
Tying and wrapping – strings, ribbons, wire, vines, and herbaceous borders at boundaries and thresholds and around objects. Traditional ways of enclosing charms and sealing intentions
Writing – including name plaques, initials, texts, behavioral instructions, personal emblems, nondecodable script
Chairs, seats, and thrones
Recurring themes : Recurring themes Filters against unwelcome influences in the form of spirits and malevolent intentions – irregular paths, fans, sieves, brooms, esp. when hanging on the front door
Emblems of communication – antennae, transmitters, receivers, electronic devices, grills/grids
Emblems of flight – birds, rockets, airplanes, helicopters
Water hoses, imitation and real hand pumps, wells
Tall posts, poles, towers
Clocks, timepieces, gauges
X or a Greek cross
East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis http://www.eslarp.uiuc.edu/la/LA437-F95/final/yan/main2.html#character : East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis http://www.eslarp.uiuc.edu/la/LA437-F95/final/yan/main2.html#character
East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis : East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis
East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis : East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis
East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis : East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis
East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis : East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis
East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis : East St. Louis Action Research Project The Spirit of African-American Yards: Front Yard Designs in East St. Louis
Organizing Principles : Organizing Principles motion --wheels, tires, hubcaps, pinwheels
containment --jars, jugs, flasks, bottles, esp. on trees and porches
figuration -- plaster icons, dolls, root sculptures, metal images
medicine -- special plantings of healing herbs by the door or along the sides of the house
Organizing Principles : Organizing Principles directional orientation – both vertically and laterally around the four cardinal directions (pointers, arrows, rockets, ladders, weather vanes, paths, whirligigs)
thresholds, transitional zones, conduits – arches, pipes, wheels with open centers, bed frames (gateways between this world and the next)
Organizing Principles : Organizing Principles self-description/self-definition – groupings concerned with the persona of the yard’s maker using figurative elements, tools, clothing, texts, name plaques, crowns, shoes, chairs, icons of spiritual communication
instructions to visitors -- signs, texts, filtering mechanisms
alternative spatial arrangements and special purpose areas
Spatial relationships : Spatial relationships see Westmacott reading for more detail on this aspect
key points:
scale varies depending on property size and particularly among rural vs. urban yards
rural -- one or more acre yards
urban -- tenth or fifth of an acre lots
tensions between public display and private sanctuary
creation of intermediary living space (particular relevance of the porch)
contrasting “wilderness” and “tame” areas
special purpose areas
Stability, variation, and improvisation : Stability, variation, and improvisation “In African-American expressive culture, a dynamic relation between reiteration and improvisation is often a basic aesthetic and communicative pattern. In yard work, improvisation establishes personal virtuosity….I am suggesting systematic variation along a spectrum of yard content and design.” (Gundaker 1993:67)
Stability, variation, and improvisation : Stability, variation, and improvisation “Because yards articulate values, they resist classification based simply on content. The means for composing value statements are too complex, and visual aspects of yards almost always lap over into other sensory realms: the sound of chimes, the aroma of herbs, the richness of spoken or sung phrases.” (Gundaker 1993:67)
Carroll House, Annapolis, MD : Carroll House, Annapolis, MD