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    puppen in bedrohungsszenarien
    Dolls / Puppets in Threat Scenarios – this is the topic focus of the first issue of the interdisciplinary online magazine "denkste: puppe / just a bit of: doll" on human-doll discourses (acronym: de: do). The term ’doll’ stands for anthropomorphic ’beings’ and artifacts of all kinds and the concept of threat is broadly defined. This focus was stimulated by the assumption that dolls and doll-related artifacts are of particular importance in times of existential threat as well as in phases of inner psychic anxiety and irritation. Yet, the basically ambiguous character of the doll does not necessarily determine a clear effect, so that its usability always involves a certain blurriness and ambivalence. In threatening and adverse situations dolls can act as companions and significant (transitional) objects, thus allowing psychic stabilization, security, and attachment as well as enabling (inner) autonomy, agency, and developmental processes. But dolls can also be a crucial component of threat scenarios themselves and act frightening in this function. All this applies not only to material and real existing dolls and puppets, but also to dolls as literary and / or media figures as well as to doll narratives of any kind. The articles included here come from different disciplines and open up an appealing and deliberately non-disciplinary oriented human-doll discourse from multiple perspectives. Accordingly, the relevant themes as well as the respective methodological approaches are highly heterogeneous. Thus, some contributions follow the long tradition of doll narratives in literature while others discuss currrent topics and discourses on future scenarios and new technologies by means of various doll-related media formats and / or art performances. A first thematic focus is on the significance of dolls in experiencing threats and losses in the context of war, flight and persecution in times of political uncertainty. Here, different facets of threat scenarios are addressed from different disciplinary perspectives. From the field of object and material theater two productions are introduced in which menacing war scenes are processed by means of plastic dolls or amorphous material. From a psychological perspective, dolls are discussed in their roles and functions as transitional objects within the context of upheaval, war and violence. Furthermore, two literary contributions analyze novels from children’s and youth literature. One story deals with a doll which contributes to the psychological stabilization of the literary protagonist. The other story tells of a girl and her doll which symbolizes the final farewell and eventual annihilation of the (Jewish) girl. Finally, the role of dolls and teddy bears in various children’s magazines is exemplified, which serve as identification figures and interaction partners for children in the politically unstable times between and after the two World Wars. A second focus deals with dolls and their narratives in the context of various aversive experiences as well as in times of psychological irritation. Two contributions analyze the meaning and effect of dolls in two ’classical’ doll narratives from a literary perspective: "Nussknacker und Mausekönig" by E.T.A. Hoffmann and "Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe" by Gottfried Keller. Further contributions address questions of ego dissolution, transformation and identity processes in human-doll relations from various perspectives such as media, art and children’s literature. Here, dolls appear as androids, artistic or anthropomorphic figures which cause irritation themselves or attempt to find answers to disturbing human-doll questions. In addition to the main topic, there are also a number of other sections and types of contributions on various doll-related topics and practices which once again document the wide range of doll narratives and possible forms of access: For example, a free contribution deals with doll play as a structured therapy for children, the miscellaneous section includes a portrait of Marlene Dietrich and her dolls as well as a short essay on a biographical reminiscence, an interview with the founder of the Berlin Puppet Theater bubales illustrates the possibilities of dramatic and poetic realization of puppet and doll narratives, a critical view on "Barbie as a discourse machine" is presented in the discussion forum and a review of the exhibition catalog "From Her Wooden Sleep by Ydessa Hendels" explores opportunities and limits of artistic work with doll artifacts.
    Source Type:
    Journal:
    Volume number:
      2952  1988
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    puppen/dolls like mensch – puppen als künstliche menschen. Teilband 1.2
    The third edition of the journal denkste: puppe / just a bit of: doll (de: do), a multidisciplinary online journal for human-doll discourses, is a double issue whose shared thematic focus is: puppen/dolls like mensch – dolls/puppets as artificial beings. With this focus, we take up a topic that has concerned mankind since ancient times and has always upset their 'minds' and 'hearts’, their needs and feelings. In mythologies, literary fictions and narratives for adults as well as for children, in works of the visual arts, in film, in mechanical-technical applications and utopias, in the performative arts, in (play-)pedagogy and in the various fields of pop culture, the motif of the doll with its various forms of expression always raises existential questions: Who is man, what is human? The doll as an artificial human being is in a certain way like mensch without being human. As man-made images, as models, imitations and designs of humans, dolls/puppets reflect and confirm existing worlds and at the same time sound out the potentials and abysses of being human between utopia and dystopia, between curiosity and devotion, between horror and bliss, between power and powerlessness. Dolls/puppets like mensch – the double meaning of these words emphasizes the given ambiguity of the dolls/puppets and the intriguing ambivalences inherent in them. In the first part of volume (1.1) the traces and manifestations of the doll motif and of doll(s) – as literary narrative, as artistic motif, as materialized object – will be explored primarily in the context of the fine arts, of literature, photography, theater and android technologies. In the second part of the volume (1.2), on the one hand, children's literature and (play)didactic texts are accentuated; on the other hand, various media and pop-cultural formats from the fields of computer games, comic-film adaptations, films (of different genres) and puppet theater performances are gathered here, as well as issues that link material artifacts and literary narratives. Reviews in the form of essays on literary doll narratives, a photo exhibition and a ballet round off both editions. The time span extends from the Middle Ages to the present and future and shows once again how age-old questions regarding mankind and humanity are integrated into traditional lines and are carried on continuously in fascinating ways.
    Source Type:
    Journal:
    Volume number:
      2046  1863