In this Research and Academic Program lecture, Christophe Koné (associate professor of German and director of the Oakley Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at Williams College) speaks about his new book, Uncanny Creatures: Doll Thinking in Modern German Culture (University of Michigan, 2024), which examines dolls’ omnipresence in the material, visual, and literary culture of the modern German-speaking world. Because dolls occupy a liminal space—not quite things and more than mere objects—they appear as uncanny creatures which have held a fascination for writers, thinkers, and artists alike, including Rainer Maria Rilke, Oscar Kokoschka, and Hans Bellmer, among others. Uncanny Creatures moves past the Freudian discourse of fetishism to propose a new reading of doll artifacts in German culture centered on their ability to evoke a feeling of uncertainty and unsettlement in the viewer.

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A 5 pm reception in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event.

Image: Cover detail of Christophe Koné's Uncanny Creatures: Doll Thinking in Modern German Culture