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• THE MYSTERY OF THE CHILD PLAYING WITH PUPPETS, OR THE PUPPET THAT AMPLIFIES THE SOUL

  99-117

  Terka Láposi

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  According to Teréz Virág (1998) a psychologist with regard to the 'mysteries' of the power of the puppet, three different spheres are worth investigating, namely the mysteries of the puppets, that of the child who plays with the object, and that of the puppeteer's. She views puppetry as creation, the puppeteer as the life-giver, and the puppet as an object of transition. When the aim is to develop the artistic methods as well as explore the 'general utility' of puppetry, it is worth further focusing on segments such as the making of the puppet, acting with the puppet, and perceiving the puppet play. These are three different viewpoints and three approaches. The study presents that the puppet in the child's hand is capable of embodying incomprehensible and insufferable feelings as well as making the unknowable accessible. In pedagogy today puppet play is believed to undoubtedly have a developmental impact, argued for widely with conventions, but it seems that there is still a lack of sincerely understanding of the being of the puppet and its mechanism of action, its principal essence. In my study, I elaborate on the questions of why and how puppet play can be of assistance, and what the puppet can actually mean in the child's hands. The puppet is an object, that makes a motion as it is assuming a role and takes action while portraying this role, it substitutes for someone or something. Being the puppet presupposes a space for the play, in which it takes the place of this someone/something by replacing what it represents. The primary goal of the study is to show that by playing with an object, a puppet lays a bridge in an abstract way between the visible and the invisible world, enabling thus art pedagogy to develop the child with its complex mode of action. The psychological mechanism of identification is best characterized by the eagerness to act, and the artistic genre of puppet play, providing the stage for action, is eminently capable of satisfying this urge. In the creative process, the approach of animation, the metaphorical thinking of the puppeteer, the abstraction as well as the development of the related assertive skills rely on all the operations of thinking; also, the simultaneity of the multi-lateral perception, the complex interpretation of communication play important roles.