Editors Christian M. Billing and Pavel Drábek

Puppets in their numerous variants (marionettes, movable statues, automata and “motions”) have inspired artists and theorists alike with a power that has often appeared mysterious and almost magical: as animated objects, puppets have the ability and potency to contain the live, sublime, intrinsically spontaneous, beautiful and ineffable; as well as the obscene, ugly, primitive and cruel. From primordial ritualistic objects, through mobile statues representing incarnations of divinity, to popular entertainments, or Modernist visions of perfection, puppets have been deployed practically and theoretically in a variety of different ways, and always to different cultural, ideological and theatrical effects. Recent developments in puppet theatre, often coinciding with alternative stage, film and/or media performances, deploy the tradition in new and often intriguing ways, simultaneously subverting and celebrating the art of the puppet.

In Western theatre, one of the most remarkable and special traditions of this sort is the Czech culture of puppets and marionettes. Originating from the conjoined influences of medieval religious usage, joculators’ courtly entertainments, and the vernacular appropriation of Italian marionettes, this tradition has been not only long lasting but also unique in many respects: in the early modern practice of itinerant marionettists, in subsequent bourgeois and courtly cultures of puppet theatre, in didactic and pedagogical applications, and in the continuing inspiration that the Czech puppet tradition has had in relation to scenography, acting styles, playwriting and visual culture.

This special issue of the peer-reviewed journal Theatralia/Yorick (published by the Department of Theatre Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ) invites a broad range of contributions from theatre and performing arts historians and theorists, puppet and automata scholars, as well as practitioners, who are invited in their own ways to reflect on Czech puppet theatre in a variety of global contexts – from historiographical investigations of particular performances and periods, through theoretical examinations of the acts of spectatorship and representation involved in the Czech tradition and its spin offs, to essays on the international impact, influence, appropriation and application of Czech puppetry.

The special issue is intended to bring together the work of a globally scattered community of academics and practitioners who are as fascinated and inspired by the topic as the journal’s editors. The volume will be published in October 2015. All contributions will be published in English, with a limited number of colour plates possible for each contribution.

Deadline for submission of article abstracts (of no more than 300 words) and brief practice or publication CVs: June 30th 2013. (please note: these should be sent simultaneously to c.m.billing@hull.ac.uk and p.drabek@hull.ac.uk)

Deadline for final article submissions (6,000–9,000 words): November 30th, 2014.