Golem: aus vielen Stoffen gezaubert
Golem: Conjured Up Out of Many Materials

Summary/Abstract: Since the mid-19th century, the literary figure of the golem has been associated with Prague Jewish folklore. At the beginning of the 20th century, however, when contemporary theories of acting (Craig) and laughter (Bergson) conceptualized marionettes and mechanization, golems began to pose a challenge for stage and screen as they changed from being merely fictional figures to being visually performed animate and inanimate beings. The works in which they appeared contributed to an image of fictional Jewish Prague that was subject to grotesque distortion, horror or ridicule. My paper focuses on the connection between the fantastical and the comical.

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