Cultures of Play, 1300-1700 Series Flyer.pdf

Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2000

One of the distinctive aspects of the study of play is that its researchers and theorists come from many disciplines and investigate a wide range of activities under the label "play." Moreover, these investigators study not only the play of children, but also that of adult humans and that of many other species of animal. For example, researchers may study what is playful about adult Renaissance tournaments, aggressive play in primates, or qualities of playfulness in young children. Theorists may speculate about the structural properties of play in various cultures or create broader models distinguishing play from other activity. The conferences of The Association for the Study of Play (TASP) always provide examples of this broad perspective, and the Play & Culture Studies series of volumes, edited by Stuart Reifel, generated under the auspices of this organization, reflect this perspective. This second volume continues the series' purpose of providing "a forum for new thinking" about play from a variety of perspectives. The content ranges widely, including articles on adult play, child play, and animal play, written by authors from the disciplines of education, psychology, anthropology, and sociology. The sections are entitled: Stories of Adult Play, Children's Play Contexts and Rules, Play in Other Cultures, Play in Other Species, and Other Conceptions of Play. A diversity of writing styles and perspectives are presented. For example, the first section (Stories) includes both a theoretical discussion comparing Erikson's and Einstein's views of playfulness, a narrative about the formative years of a noted play theorist (Sutton-Smith), and an analysis of the role of play in exotic dancing. The final section provides two discussions of theoretical issues related to play definitions and models. The other sections are more focused on empirical studies of play. Section 2 reports observations of children's play in various contexts (chase games, other types of games, drawing, pretend play at a museum) and interviews with kindergarten and college students about play/work distinctions. Cross-cultural studies (Section 3) focus on differences between playfulness and children's pretend play interactions with adults in Asian and American cultures, as well as an analysis of adult play at carnivals in Germany. Play in Other

International Journal of Play, 2016

Despite the exploding interest in the history of children, there has been limited academic research by historians into children's experiences of play in the past. Indeed, an unusually low number of papers were offered to a major social history conference dedicated to the theme in 2004. 1 Existing work tends to be fragmented, subsumed in more general overviews of specific time periods. The concept of play in historical contexts has yet to be fully interrogated in the depth afforded by, say, theorists of child development (Lindon, 2001, pp. 25-34). Manufactured play objects may be visually tempting, but in reality may reflect the interests and collecting habits of adults: indeed, 'toy' used to mean a trifle or small object until the late sixteenth century (Brown, 1996, p. 7). Imaginative play and play with natural objects are activities much harder to document, yet may be more representative of real children's experiences. Sub-disciplines such as youth work and playwork have a track record of publishing some historical work, but mainly within the parameters of practice-based research (Gilchrist, Jeffs, & Spence, 2001 onwards) and Newstead (2014). Play as a concept raises the dichotomy of the nature/nurture debate. Play can be regarded as an innate evolutionary mechanism which enables the young to learn about the world and to practise skills which will be needed for adulthood, as with animals play-fighting (Huizinga, 1949/1970, pp. 110-111). Alternatively, its forms can be perceived as a consequence of social conditioning, shaped by the needs and habitus of different societies. Child development theorists argue that play is the 'work' of a child, a way of distinguishing children from adults (Thomas, 1989, p. 58). Johannes Huizinga (1949/1970, p. 19) in Homo Ludens, the first cultural history of play, defined play as encompassing all aspects of life: 'In play there is something "at play" which transcends the immediate needs of life and imparts meaning to the action.' This raises the thorny issue of definition. Morgan Leichter-Saxby (2016, p. 111) recently noted how in 'Playwork Principles' (2005), play is defined as 'freely chosen, self-directed and intrinsically motivated' and playworkers would not consider adult-directed activities as play. In historical context, such a definition might be regarded as too restrictive. Where is the boundary between 'freely chosen' and children's incorporation of learned cultural behaviours into their apparently self-chosen activities, as analysed by theorist Lev Vygotsky? When children engage in behaviours such as play-fighting, are these socially or biologically determined, and if the latter, why do these forms vary across space and time? Moreover, the view that there is a sharp distinction between children's play and

Publié avec le soutien du Conseil Européen de la Recherche (ERC) dans le cadre du projet ERC advanced Locus Ludi. The Cultural Fabric of Play and Games in Classical Antiquity basé à l'Université de Fribourg-programme de recherche et d'innovation de l'Union Européenne Horizon 2020 (contrat de financement n o 741520). Site du projet : <locusludi.ch>. Comme tous les livres publiés dans les collections et les séries des Presses universitaires de Liège, ceux de la collection « Jeu / Play / Spiel » sont soumis, avant publication, à un processus d'évaluation par les pairs. Couverture : Jeton en os de Zadar avec Éros courant avec une couronne de victoire. © Musée Archéologique de Zadar, inv. A10281 (photo de Kornelija A. Giunio).

Publié avec le soutien du Conseil Européen de la Recherche (ERC) dans le cadre du projet ERC advanced Locus Ludi. The Cultural Fabric of Play and Games in Classical Antiquity basé à l'Université de Fribourg-programme de recherche et d'innovation de l'Union Européenne Horizon 2020 (contrat de financement n o 741520). Site du projet : <locusludi.ch>. Comme tous les livres publiés dans les collections et les séries des Presses universitaires de Liège, ceux de la collection « Jeu / Play / Spiel » sont soumis, avant publication, à un processus d'évaluation par les pairs. Couverture : Jeton en os de Zadar avec Éros courant avec une couronne de victoire. © Musée Archéologique de Zadar, inv. A10281 (photo de Kornelija A. Giunio).

Medieval Archaeology, 2023

Review of Games and Visual Culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Medieval Archaeology, 67:1, 228-229, DOI: 10.1080/00766097.2023.2204739

The ERC Locus Ludi investigates the history and the dynamics of ancient ludic culture. Play and games provide a privileged access to past societal norms, values, identities, and the collective imaginary. People play all over the world and have done so throughout history, but they do not play the same games, nor do they assign the same meaning and function to play. Our modern western concepts of “play” and “game” differ in several respects from the Greek and Roman ones that this chapter attempts to define. . https://locusludi.ch/team-publications/

"Play and Games in Antiquity. Definition, Transmission, Reception". 17-19 septembre 2018. Organisé par V. Dasen & U. Schaedler dans le cadre du projet ERC Advanced 'Locus Ludi. The Cultural Fabric of Play and Games in Classical Antiquity' au Musée Suisse du Jeu (La Tour-de-Peilz), sous le patronage de l’European Year of Cultural Heritage, de l’ARS, avec le soutien de l’Académie Suisse des Sciences Humaines. Playing at the Festival: Aiora, a Swing Ritual Abstract A small number of disparate literary sources and vase-paintings inform us about a custom that took place in ancient Athens and concerned swinging in the framework of a festival (Aiora). Although swinging could be practiced at any time and by anybody, the designation of a particular day for its collective performance by various segments of society ascribes to it a ritual character. The incorporation of an otherwise secular ludic activity in the context of a religious festivity highlights the potential of games to function also as rituals able to convey cultural ideals and expectations due to their performative character. The present paper traces the history of scholarship on the Aiora with special emphasis on the visual evidence, which, by contrast to the much later testimonia, is the only one that dates in the 6th and 5th century BC. The questions asked by scholars of religion so far centered on which festival was the one during which ritual swinging was performed and at what exact time within the sequence of cultic events it took place. The visual evidence furnishes interesting details regarding the protagonists of the swinging ritual and sheds light on the construction of gender in the Greek world, as well as on its manifestation on the religious and cultic level.