Book

Puppets, gods, and brands : theorizing the age of animation from Taiwan

Silvio, Teri, author

Overview

\"The early 21st century has seen an explosion of animation. Cartoon characters are everywhere--in cinema, television, and video games and as brand logos. The ubiquity of animation is not a trivial side-effect of the development of digital technologies and the globalization of media markets. Rather, it points to a paradigm shift. In the last century, performance became a key term in academic and popular discourse: The idea that we construct identities through our gestures and speech proved extremely useful for thinking about many aspects of social life. This volume proposes an anthropological concept of animation as a contrast and complement to performance: The idea that we construct social others by projecting parts of ourselves out into the world might prove useful for thinking about such topics as climate crisis, corporate branding, and social media. Like performance, animation can serve as a platform for comparisons of different cultures and historical eras. Silvio presents an anthropology of animation through a detailed ethnographic account of how characters, objects, and abstract concepts are invested with lives, personalities, and powers in contemporary Taiwan. The practices analyzed include the worship of wooden statues of Buddhist and Daoist deities and the recent craze for cute vinyl versions of these deities, as well as a wildly popular video fantasy series performed by puppets. She reveals that animation is, like performance, a concept that works differently in different contexts, and that animation practices are deeply informed by local traditions of thinking about the relationships between body and soul, spiritual power and the material world\"-- Provided by publisher.

• Publisher: University of Hawai°i Press
• Subject: Characters and characteristics in mass media. / Cartoon characters Social aspects Taiwan. / Computer animation Social aspects Taiwan. / Figurines Social aspects Taiwan. / Puppet theater Social aspects Taiwan. / Video game characters Social aspects Taiwan.
• ISBN: 9780824881160, 0824881168, 9780824876623, 0824876628

Item info:

1 item available

1 item total in all locations

Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
P96.C432 T3 2019	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE