HON 373 - The Puppet Metaphor Across Media

Prerequisite, acceptance to the University Honors Program, or consent of instructor and Honors Director. This course investigates the theoretical and historical significance of the myth of the puppet by examining its cultural history and its life across media boundaries. The coursework traces the evolution of influential European, and especially Italian, puppets and puppeteering traditions comparatively with other types of theatre of animation around the world, from Renaissance theatre to avant-garde literature, film, and digital media. This course also addresses the archetype of the transformation from animate to inanimate in literature and cinema, including the theme of the cyborg. Readings and lectures provide historical background and dialogue with recent theories of theatricality, intermediality, and post-human. Through class discussions, presentations and critical papers, students will analyze a number of literary, cinematographic and digital texts that intersect with puppetry in various ways. (Offered as needed.) 3 credits

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