Intersubjective Traps over Tricks on the Kazakhstani Puppet Stage: Animation as Dicentization

Abstract

This article introduces puppet animation as a process of dicentization, in which the puppet's resemblance to a living creature is treated as if it resulted from the object being alive. This act requires recognition that the puppet is only an object, accompanied by a momentary forgetting. At a state‐funded theater in Kazakhstan, animation is achieved through a complex participant framework. Any component can jeopardize successful animation, yet this configuration enables a range of possibilities for how animation can unfold. A director's shifting of animation techniques transformed social relations and enabled artists to play with new possibilities of puppetry. Coordinating animation requires—and thus assigns—values to those who participate. Understanding animation as dicentization highlights the endeavor as one that generates signs across the proscenium.