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216 hyperbolically asserting instead that it is an "academy," a "mystery," an esoteric "system of instruction" (p. 132) the primary purpose of which "is the pursuit of wisdom and moral excellence" (p. 91). There is no evidence for the priority of its philosophical functions, but the author directs us to the proverbs, symbols, and physical objects wherein Lega knowledge rests rather than to an understanding of actual swami organization or its reaction to the large-scale pressures on Lega society earlier noted. Lega art is the art of bwami. Nearly half the book and most of the hundred- plus plates document the array of carvings and aphorisms which are the center- pieces of every initiation. In them symbolism is highly compressed, but they are primarily mnemonics for other ideas rather than explicit representations of myths, qualities, or ideas. Partly because all bwami objects are by Lega defini- tion good-and-beautiful (p. 177), Biebuyck offers us no clues to Lega aesthetics, and because the association itself has been persecuted, current production has withered and almost nothing can be said of Lega artists or their contexts (pp. 226-230). We are left with only the broadest of reflections upon the "placidity and serenity"
Journal of Asian and African Studies (in 2002 continued as African and Asian Studies) – Brill
Published: Jan 1, 1975
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