This module is discontinued in the selected year. The information shown below is for the academic year that the module was last running in, prior to the year selected.

2016/17 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL3312 Puppetry Arts and the Subject/Object Continuum

20 creditsClass Size: 10

School of English

Module manager: Professor Jane Taylor
Email: j.taylor@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2016/17

Pre-requisite qualifications

Grade B at 'A' Level English Language or Literature (or equivalent) or an achieved mark of 56 or above in a Level 1 module in English (or its non-UK equivalent).

Please note: this module is restricted to Level 3 students.

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

In this module we will be exploring what it is we believe about objects and their relation to human subjects. In constructing this enquiry, we will look at the puppet as a 'special type' of object, in order to consider what it is that the puppet can tell us about the psychological and mystical work that is carried out through the medium of objects, on behalf of the human agent. We will thus read some texts from distinct disciplines, such as anthropology and psychoanalysis. What does Freud suggest about the infant's first affections for its playthings? How are animistic practices like (rather than unlike) rationalist habits? (In other words, how do we engage in 'magical thinking' of various kinds? Do we avoid cracks in the pavement, do we walk around ladders instead of under them?) We will begin by discussing some of the foundational ideas about puppets, in the western tradition. Aristotle, will lead the way, and then we will read selections from Descartes. We will also look at several other core texts such as Heinrich von Kleist's essay 'On the Marionette Theatre'. We will discuss some of anthropology's interpretations of the object, and raise some Freudian fundamentals. We will discuss some of the recent work in 'thing theory', as well as key works on 'the animal', as we consider the western tradition's attempts to define the boundaries between the human, the animal and the object.There is no special prerequisite for the course: students need not have any prior study in anthropology, psychoanalysis, or philosophy; nor will there be any expectation that students have studied or worked with puppets. The course is a way of jumping into a very speculative enquiry that is at the same time rooted in specific theatrical and artistic practices.

Objectives

This course will be a combination of various kinds of reading, as well as various kinds of thinking. We will look at some classical texts on puppetry, as well as more recent theory; we will try to consider why the puppet is so uncanny to us. What is the boundary between person/animal/object? How have recent animation technologies destabliized our understanding - if at all? We will consider practices associated with totemism and possession to confound us further. There will be discussions of various kinds of puppetry and several histories, with everything from sacred objects to contemporary film available for discussion.

Learning outcomes
The student will read classic texts which consider the relationship between consciousness and material form. We will also discuss some of the strong theoretical interpretations of our relations to objects, from psychoanalytic as well as anthropological traditions. We will read several literary works from the eighteenth century, in order to ask what such texts are suggesting about the impact of the new commodities on ideas of the person. We will also explore some key writing explicitly about puppets. Finally we will consider the twentieth-century, and bio-medical breakthroughs on prostheses as well as digital ideas of the avatar.
Knowledge outcomes will be:
1 an understanding of the philosophical definitions of the human in relation to the animal and the object.
2 some conceptual engagement with several of the principle disciplines that theorize the object: anthropology, exchange theory, and psychoanalysis.
3 an historical understanding of the shifts in attitudes toward the object and the animal.
4 a detailed grasp of some of the recent conceptualizing of puppetry arts.
5 an understanding of how to engage in interdisciplianry, or multi-disciplinary research.

Syllabus

In this module we will be exploring what it is we believe about objects and their relation to human subjects. In constructing this enquiry, we will look at the puppet as a 'special type' of object, in order to consider what it is that the puppet can tell us about the psychological and mystical work that is carried out through the medium of objects, on behalf of the human agent. We will thus read some texts from distinct disciplines, such as anthropology and psychoanalysis. What does Freud suggest about the infant's first affections for its playthings? How are animistic practices like (rather than unlike) rationalist habits? (In other words, how do we engage in 'magical thinking' of various kinds? Do we avoid cracks in the pavement, do we walk around ladders instead of under them?) We will begin by discussing some of the foundational ideas about puppets, in the western tradition. Aristotle, will lead the way, and then we will read selections from Descartes. We will also look at several other core texts such as Heinrich von Kleist's essay 'On the Marionette Theatre'. We will discuss some of anthropology's interpretations of the object, and raise some Freudian fundamentals. We will discuss some of the recent work in 'thing theory', as well as key works on 'the animal', as we consider the western tradition's attempts to define the boundaries between the human, the animal and the object.

There is no special prerequisite for the course: students need not have any prior study in anthropology, psychoanalysis, or philosophy; nor will there be any expectation that students have studied or worked with puppets. The course is a way of jumping into a very speculative enquiry that is at the same time rooted in specific theatrical and artistic practices.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	5	1.00	5.00
Seminar	10	1.00	10.00
Private study hours			185.00
Total Contact hours			15.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Teaching will be through weekly seminars (10 x 1 hour) plus up to 5 additional hours (content to be determined by the module tutor). The 5 additional hours may include lecture, plenary sessions, film showings, or the return of unassessed/assessed essays.

Private Study: Reading, seminar preparation, essay writing.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- Attendance at seminars.
- Submission of assessed assignment.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Assignment	1,500 words - Meditation on the arts of puppetry or ventriloquism. This can take the form of a review of a film, or of a videoclip; it may also be a creative proposal for a theatre piece or video clip that explores the main concerns of the course. In such cases students would have to indicate how the propositions for the form and the style of the piece would explore the theoretical ideas engaged with in class.	20.00
Essay	3,000 words - Scholarly essay on puppetry, ventriloquism, the subject/the object/the Animal. This work will need to demonstrate familiarity with recent writing and theoretical thinking. There will need to be demonstration of referencing skills.	80.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 26/04/2016

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