Diderot's humanoid objects : the "Paradoxe sur le comédien" and the human body in material culture / Marie-Irène Igelmann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Igelmann, Marie-Irène, author.

Series:

Oxford University studies in the Enlightenment ; 2025:11.

Oxford University studies in the Enlightenment ; 2634-8047 ; 2025:11

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Diderot, Denis, 1713-1784. Paradoxe sur le comédien.

Diderot, Denis.

Diderot, Denis, 1713-1784.

Acting--Philosophy.

Acting.

Physical Description:

xviii, 242 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Liverpool : Liverpool University Press ; Oxford : [on behalf of] Voltaire Foundation, [2025]

Summary:

"Denis Diderot was one of the most important philosophical thinkers of the French Enlightenment. His works are also milestones in theater history. This book is the first study to contextualize Diderot's acting theory, as presented in the Paradoxe sur le comédien, within the broader landscape of eighteenth-century material culture, centering on four humanoid objects: the automaton, the statue, the jumping jack, and the mannequin, which Diderot employs as metaphors to articulate his ideas on acting. The book shows how the metaphorical use of these four objects is shaped by their material characteristics and distinct functionality in everyday life. Diderot's humanoid objects demonstrates that a deep dive into eighteenth-century material culture is necessary to fully acknowledge Diderot's aesthetic and anthropological concept of the ideal actor/actress. Thus, the book recovers aspects of Diderot's acting theory that have been eclipsed by subsequent theater practitioners and theoreticians interested in humanoid objects as role models for actors (such as Kleist, Craig, Meyerhold or Schlemmer). It also sheds new light on the humanoid objects present in Diderot's novels and Salons, thereby offering fresh insights into how people in the eighteenth century understood themselves in relation to mechanisms or machines - be it in cultural, societal or political contexts."--Adapted from back cover.

Contents:

Part I. Actors and mechanisms

Chapter 1. Theatrical automata

Chapter 2. Sensitive machines

Part II. Society and authority

Chapter 3. The actress-automation

Chapter 4. Mechanisms of obedience

Chapter 5. Satire and subversion

Part III. Mimesis and ideal

Chapter 6. Artists and tools

Chapter 7. Mannequin and role model

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-233) and index.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9781836245285

1836245289

OCLC:

1539299913

Publisher Number:

CIPO000283517