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Yang Gao

Abstract

The concept of “Uber-Marionette,” proposed by the British theatre practitioner Gordon Craig, is a metaphor for an ideal performer whose body has a purely “corporeal/material” quality. In contrast, the body of Cyber “Uber-Marionette,” represented by virtual idols in digital time-space, is a kind of disembodied information body. The evolution of the body landscape from “Uber-Marionette” to Cyber “Uber-Marionette” marks a transition from substantialist views on the body, inherited and developed by Gordon Craig, to cybernetic views on the body in the age of “posthumanism”. This transformation has not only brought about a profound change in the paradigm of existence of the performer's body but has also virtualized the body of the audience and shaken the performer-spectator relationship. In order to respond to the challenges posed by the Cyber “Uber-Marionette” as a kind of disembodied “hyperhuman,” the human performer, rather than retrogressing into the state of “prehuman” implied by the image of “Uber-Marionette”, must evolve into a kind of embodied “posthuman” whose strengthened body coexists with technology.

Keywords

Gordon Craig;Uber-Marionette;posthumanism;body;virtual idol

First Page

140

Last Page

149

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