Obscurantists

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (October 2007)

This page is to differentiate the usage for the term "Obscurantists" based on philosophy and/or religion versus the modern usage to describe artists who attempt to remain anonymous.

[edit] Disambiguity

• The philosophical and religious beliefs of Obscurantism (ob·scu·ran·tism). This centers around the opposition to the spread of knowledge and/or beliefs or the withholding of knowledge from the general public, purposefully done with the belief that it is for the greater good to do so.
• The term used to describe artists (musicians, writers, painters, etc.) who purposefully obscure who they are, for a wide variety of reasons, including but not limited to dealing with racism, sexism, etc.

[edit] Definition

Pronunciation: ob·scu·ran·tist /-&n-tist, -'ran-tist/ - a noun or adjective. See "obscurantist" for definition.

Used to describe a person or person(s) / group who purposefully obscures their identity, origins, background, history, education, etc. for a wide variety of reasons, without necessarily having any concept of "greater good" or ethics, but often serving some self-proposed purpose.

As defined by Merriam-Webster as "a style (as in literature or art) characterized by deliberate vagueness or abstruseness". Note the lack of definition as to the reasoning or purpose for promulgating obscurity.

[edit] Usage in Art

The term "Obscurantist" has been used to describe artists, often musicians, who deliberately hide their true identity, for a variety of reasons, many unknown. Two of the best known "obscurantist" would be the musician Jandek (who began performing live with a concert in Scotland in 2005 and is no longer considered such) or the San Francisco-based band The Residents.