Die venezianische Gesellschaftsmaske – by Ignazio Toscani (Book)
„Die venezianische Gesellschaftsmaske. Ein Versuch zur Deutung ihrer Ausformung, ihrer Entstehungsgründe und ihrer Funktion“ by Ignazio Toscani, a doctorate thesis from 1970, as far as I know still is the most complete study on why and how Venetian citizens used masks. You may translate the title of this book as „The Venetian Society Mask. An Attempt to Interprete its Implementation, the Reasons for its Development and its Function”. Saarbrücken 1970
Maschere a Venezia – by Mario Belloni (Book)
This is a precious source. The author delivers a short but comprehensive introduction into Venetian masks and their history. The text is written in Italian, English, French and German language, and the book shows a lot of pictures giving a good impression on how Venetian citizens looked like, lived and interacted when wearing masks during carnival and daily life. UNA TANTUM EDITORE, Venezia. ISBN 88-901083-0-4
- More information on the book can be found here.
Venedig oder Die Macht der Phantasie – by Lars Cassio Karbe (Book)
„Venedig oder Die Macht der Phantasie. Die Serenissima – ein Modell für Europa“ is a study on Venetian social life, culture, politics and economics. You may translate it as “Venice or The Power of Phantasy – the Serenissima as a Model for Europe”. This book also covers the role of the masks in Venetian culture and discusses its use in private and business life. Diederichs, Munich 1995. ISBN 3-424-01292-0
Etymology and Example of a Painting (Web)
As Wikipedia reveals, a Venetian mask shop has some interesting remarks on the etymology of the Bauta and a good example of a painting by Pietro Longhi: “The Ridotto in Venice”
Bauta.it (Web)
Bauta.it is a great Italian website (in Italian and English language) dedicated to all historical and social aspects of the Bauta. It pays special attention to the XVIII century. Some of the information I found there differs from information I found in my other sources, but to explore this will be part of the ongoing research process. It’s definitely worth visiting it, and look at the impressive picture galleries, one filled with historical paintings showing the city of Venice and citizens wearing Bautas and one with Carnival photographs!
How a real person looks like when wearing the Bauta mask and disguise (Web)
This US shop sells traditional bauta costumes – and offers a good photograph on how a real person looks like when wearing the complete set of mask, tricorno hat, cape and zendale.
‘I’ve Got Nothing to Hide’ and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy – by Daniel J. Solove (Essay/Web)
When talking about masks as a social phenomenon, the “I have nothing to hide argument” against privacy as a human right has to be taken into consideration. Daniel Solove has written an article about this argument which has been widely discussed by the internet community. From Solove’s point of view, the “I have nothing to hide” argument is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of privacy.
- The article – abstract and free PDF Download link
- Bruce Schneiers Cryptogram blog has an interesting discussion about it
Anonymity and Pseudonymity in Cyberspace – by M. E. Kabay (Essay/Web)
„Anonymity and Pseudoymity in Cyberspace: Deindividuation, Incivility and Lawlessness Versus Freedom and Privacy” by M. E. Kabay is a paper I will certainly refer to frequently in the future. Well-compacted, this essay contains nearly all the social, psychological and technical background needed to dig into the topic of this blog. Furthermore, the paper discusses aspects like unsocial behavior often shown by people acting anonymously in modern societies and in the internet – a phenomenon which apparently did not occur so often in old Venice. This especially attracts my attention.
Bruce Schneier on Internet Anonymity (Web)
In his Blog, US security guru Bruce Schneier points out that “any design of the Internet must allow for anonymity” and that universal identification should not be the “Holy Grail” of internet security. Interesting essay!
Benutzerzentriertes Identitätsmanagement – by Werner Degenhardt (Essay/Web)
Unfortunately for German readers only – an article my friend Werner Degenhardt wrote when I still was an editor at the famous LANline magazine: Benutzerzentriertes Identitätsmanagement (User-centric Identity Management).
The Mask of the Honorable Citizen – by Johannes Wiele (Essay)
This is the first essay I published covering the Bauta topic. It can be found in the conference proceedings of the 2010 ISSE conference in Berlin.
Jillian C. York (Articles/Interviews/Web)
Jillian C. York is director of International Freedom of Expression at the US organization Electronic Frontier Foundation. Some of her articles and a lot of the interviews she has given provide excellent insights into chances and problems of anonymity and pseudonymity on the internet and on closed social network platforms. “A case for pseudonyms” for example explains why being able to use a pseudonym sometimes saves one’s life and often is an important factor to guarantee freedom of speech. “Lieber anonym als verfolgt” partly is a German translation published in the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”. In “San Francisco Organization Fights For Online Anonymity” by CBS San Francisco Jillian C. York briefly summarizes why she does not like the ban of user pseudonyms by Google+ and Facebook.
Licence to Mask 