ABSTRACT
What allows puppets, within disparate cultural contexts, to be perceived as powerful, potent objects, able to attract and embody spirit/s or in other ways act as effective elements within a ritual event? Ritual puppets offer a broader view of Jane Bennett’s concept of assemblages, what might be called expanded assemblages, gaining their power to act through a mix of human, object, and assumed spirit actions. An investigation into the nang yai large shadow puppet tradition of Thailand, as a case study, outlines the various kinds of materiality, ritual practices, and beliefs that confer different degrees of importance and power on puppets used in performance and those used solely within wai khruu rituals that take place before performances and once a year to honor current teachers and the lineage of previous puppet masters. Like the puppets, the shadow screens themselves are part of the materiality within the performance that may also receive ritual treatment.
What makes ritual puppets powerful, potent objects, able to attract and embody spirit/s or in other ways act as effective elements within a ritual event? What qualities of puppets in different cultures put them in the position of being perceived as able to commune or connect with the spirit world or in other ways serve as efficacious participants in ritual actions or other powerful endeavors?
