Robot Bodies

Abstract: "Robot Bodies" argues that a particular strain of robotic embodiments is indebted to the minstrel stage and its portrayal of blackness. In particular, the essay argues that a lineage can be drawn from the original staged embodiments of The Wizard of Oz 's Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, delineated by minstrel performers David C. Montgomery and Fred A. Stone, to the robotic embodiments of Star Wars characters R2D2 and C-3PO. The essay's final turn discusses a recent short film, Robot and Scarecrow , as a minoritarian reprise and revision of these same corporeal tropes.