Puppet and Spirit: Ritual, Religion, and Performing Objects: Volume II Contemporary Branchings: Secular Benedictions, Activated Energies, Uncanny ... Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)

This anthology of essays, a companion to Puppet and Spirit: Ritual, Religion, and Performing Objects, Volume I, aims to explore the many types of relationships that exist between puppets, broadly speaking, and the immaterial world. The allure of the puppet goes beyond its material presence as, historically and throughout the globe, many uses of puppets and related objects have expressed and capitalized on their posited connections to other realms or ability to serve as vessels or conduits for immaterial presence.The flip side of the puppet’s troubling uncanniness is precisely the possibilities it represents for connecting to discarnate realities.Where do we see such connections in contemporary artistic work in various mediums?How do puppets open avenues for discussion in a world that seems to be increasingly polarized around religious values?How do we describe, analyze, and theorize the present moment?What new questions do puppets address for our times, and how does the puppet’s contin