[Candrama] CFP: Puppetry and Material Performance at ASTR (Atlanta, GA;

[Lawrence Switzky]

We invite submissions to the following Working Session:

Puppetry and Material Performance (American Society for Theatre  
Research, November 16-19, 2017; Atlanta, GA)

In puppetry and material performance, objects become ?extraordinary  
bodies? that are both irreducibly material and implausibly,  
miraculously ?alive.? This Session will explore how puppets and  
objects become extraordinary bodies onstage; how the bodies of  
puppeteers and performers relate to objects in extraordinary ways; why  
puppetry and material performance is uniquely situated to tell stories  
about and/or for extraordinary bodies; and how puppets and objects act  
in the service of non-normative bodies politically, socially, and  
culturally. The Center for Puppetry Arts, located in Atlanta, offers  
possibilities for grounding our discussions in concrete examples, and  
for productive exchanges over the course of the conference.

Working Group participants are invited to engage in theoretical,  
historical, or contemporary analyses of puppetry and material  
performance. Individual case studies might investigate, but are not  
limited to:

--Puppet and material performance about extraordinary bodies
--Objects as extraordinary intermediaries, as in ritual, community  
outreach, and as psychological or educational tools
--Extraordinary interactions between puppet and performer bodies
--Performing objects as effigies, tools of protest and instruments of  
political dissent
--Intersections between material performance and philosophies of embodiment
--Aesthetics of difference ? the grotesque, the abject, the uncanny ?  
in puppetry and material performance
--How the extraordinary bodies of puppets might call attention to the  
overlooked or stigmatized bodies of puppetry artists
--How ?extraordinariness? in material performance might be differently  
defined or legible in other cultural contexts, or might emerge from  
the exchange between cultures

Papers (8-10 pages) should be distributed to all session participants  
by October 1. Leading up to the conference, the moderators will divide  
participants into smaller thematic groups, and participants will be  
asked to read and comment on the papers in their subgroup by November  
1 using our online discussion board. At ASTR, participants will first  
present brief (1 - 2 minute) abstracts of their papers at the start of  
the session in order to help familiarize audience members with each  
project. Participants and audience members will then divide into their  
subgroups to discuss the themes that linked their papers, and then  
reconvene with the larger group to exchange ideas. The goals of the  
Working Session are to provide a broader critical context for puppetry  
scholarship and to develop essays for publication.

For any specific questions, please contact the working group convenors  
at alissa.mello at gmail.com, dawn.brandes at ukings.ca,  
lawrence.switzky at utoronto.ca, d-posner at northwestern.edu and  
corenste at hunter.cuny.edu.

Please note that all submissions must be received formally through the  
ASTR website at http://www.astr.org/?page=17_WSSubmissions. The form  
will allow you to indicate second and third choice working groups if  
you wish; if you do so, note that there is a space for you to indicate  
how your work will fit into those groups. The deadline for receipt of  
working group proposals is 1 June 2017 and we anticipate that  
participants will be notified of their acceptance no later than 30  
June. Please contact the conference organizers at astr2017 at astr.org if  
you have any questions about the process.