Created in our image

by Kitti Carriker

This study takes a look at the problematic role played by the handmade doubles, the three-dimensional, physical figures such as dolls and puppets that fictional characters and craftsmen create in their own images. Author Kitti Carriker maintains that, especially when created in miniature, dolls seem to appeal to the reader's fascination with, and fear of, images made in human likeness. Viewing the doll, the robot, and the miniature as manifestations of Freud's notion of The Uncanny; Lacan's Discourse of the Other; Julia Kristeva's concept of The Abject; and Susan Stewart's juxtaposition of The Miniature and The Gigantic provides a way to explore the psychological implications of their creation and the extent and limitations of the power they hold - if indeed anyover the human beings who have served as their models and creators.