Entering the grotto of the biomechanical puppeteer : exploring the grotesque in stop motion puppetry

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates the significance of stop motion puppetry as an artistic device that enablesillustrators to explore the notion of the 'grotesque'. Mikhail Bakhtin and Wolfgang Kayser'stheorisation of the grotesque provides the foundation for my analysis of the manifestation of thegrotesque in the puppets and stop motion techniques utilised in Jan Švankmajer's Something fromAlice (1988) and a selected film from my own work entitled Bad Man He Comin' (2011). Acomparative study of these two films demonstrate that stop motion puppetry is an apt medium forfacilitating and exploring forms of the grotesque.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University