the puppet as a figure of the other final P PIRIS 2013 - Central ...

performer and the puppet inscribes the latter as an ambiguous figure of the Other, aphilosophical term which I will define shortly.1.1. The notion of ‘manipulacting’This study proposes a rethinking of the nature of the puppet and an understanding of itby way of its alterity. The evolution from an invisible performer to a visible one placesthe relation between the performer and the puppet at the centre of the performance. Thepuppeteer gets close to an actor through the use of hybrid forms of performance thatcombine puppeteering and acting and because he gains a dramatic presence. By acting, Imean the elaboration of dramatic characters or personae on stage as opposed to the soleact of operating a puppet. In this study I refer to the hybridisation of puppetry and actingas ‘manipulacting’.I argue that ‘manipulacting’ is an historical evolution of the visible presence ofthe puppeteer. It inscribes the presence of the performer, called the ‘manipulactor’, inthe dramaturgy of the performance through his interaction with the puppet. 1Manipulacting indicates a form of performance which combines the manipulation of apuppet and acting. The word ‘manipulation’ has been favoured over the word‘animation’ because I consider that the puppet is manipulated by the performer andanimated (or not) by the audience. Moreover the word ‘manipulation’ does not bear anyreligious, psychoanalytical or spiritual connotation, unlike ‘animation’. 2 To manipulatemeans to handle with skill and comes from the Latin word ‘manipulus’ which signifies‘handful’ while to animate means to breathe life into and comes from the Latin word‘animare’ which refers to the soul or the mind. ‘Manipulacting’ is not confined to one1 By convention I use a masculine pronoun throughout this thesis to include both male and femaleperformers.2 Especially in Jung’s terminology.16