Representations of War on the Regional Puppet Stage: A Case Study of the Military Repertoire of L’ Théât’ Louis (Roubaix, France)

Abstract

Despite its richness and the relevance of the issues it raises, the military repertoirefor puppets has been the subject of very few studies, and none has focused on theFrench repertoire prior to 1914. This article focuses on the military repertoire ofL’ Théât’ Louis (Roubaix), created by Louis Richard (1850–1915) in 1884, whichserves as a case study for examining representations of war on popular puppetstages. In particular, it analyses representations of two types of war: national war, using the example of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), and international war, using the example of the Second Boer War (1899–1902). To deepen the analysis, the article proposes to open up the reflection to a regional perspective.