Ren, You should check out Goffman's less read -- but more interesting -- work that is actually _about_ games: the long essays "where the action is", "fun in games" and so forth. And remember Becker's -- or was it Louis Wirth's? -- line that "originality is a product of a faulty memory". It may be that you are just reinventing run-of-the-mill theories of symbolic interaction. The more literature review the more better! -A Alex Golub, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Anthropology University of Hawai'i at Manoa Department of Anthropology 2424 Maile Way Saunders Hall 346 Honolulu HI 96822-2223 808 956-6575 golub@hawaii.edu On Feb 28, 2011, at 11:36 AM, Ren Reynolds wrote:
All, A few commentators mentioned Goffman in relation to my post. I'd never read the original text, now I have I found it uncannily similar to what I'd written but I think not exactly the same, so I've added an analysis of what I think Goffman is saying about play and where I think I'm saying something different, but I'm aware this might be simply my wilful interpretation of Goffman. Updated post (now 4k words, sorry) here: http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2011/02/the-meaning-of-play.html
Stephanie, My definition very much gets away from rigid notions of boundaries, so I'm not sure how we are differing. So I'm a little confused about how you are defining boundaries and object. For instance if one is playing with 'identity' then the object is 'identity'. What's more in any given play session one does not do everything e.g. In any given instance I don't play in London and Tokyo nor at the same time, so there are bounds at the very least in that sense. I thought I noted explicitly that what I'm saying covers pure mental play with ideas is a very free flowing way - it's exactly that which I'm I was capturing.
I also don't understand the gender bit in your comment are you saying only female fans engage in this or you have only observed females engaging in it?
ren
On 28 Feb 2011, at 15:58, Tuszynski, Stephanie wrote:
Ren - this is interesting since I don't think of "play" as something that applies only to gaming and your definition is very deeply rooted in that form and only that form. I've seen a lot of female fans engage in play, both with identity and with creative activities, that have very little to do with any of this. No rules, no boundaries, no object. I would still consider it playing but it's far removed from the idea of a game with rules and an object. Interesting.
Dr. Stephanie Tuszynski Assistant Professor of Communication Bethany College
Message: 6 Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:04:58 +0000 From: Ren Reynolds <ren@aldermangroup.com> To: list aoir <air-l@aoir.org> Subject: [Air-L] The Meaning of Play Message-ID: <735A8F73-97A5-4ECC-A1EB-5FD2EAA0B857@aldermangroup.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
All, & with apologies to games scholars and twitter followers for cross posting & general apologies for shameless self promotion...
I've been thinking about what play is for some time, I've now blogged these thoughts at a little length (3k+ words) over at TerraNova: http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2011/02/the-meaning-of-play.html
As I note there, I did this for a general reason: existing definitions did not satisfy me; and for a specific reason: I'm looking at the governance of online play by researching the history of sports law and governance and needed a theory that explained what is going on when law does not intervene in contact sports, even when there is injury.
So this is a very general definition which I hope is useful in any field where one is looking at what play is, I'm interested in comments to help de-bug it:
Play is the recognised, negotiated, process of a purposeful shift in the dominant meaning; and contextual attribution of value, of acts.
Games are normative forms of play.
ludic-meaning - the meaning that has been shifted or attributed
ludic-semiotics - the system of the signs product through play
ludic-capital - the degree to which these ludic-meaning and semiotics are operational in a given context e.g. when set against institutional-capital.
Magic circle - the term we use to denote the bounds of the context wherein the ludic-meaning of an act prevails over the co-existing non-ludic meaning (or lack thereof).
Ren --8<-- web: www.renreynolds.com
Think Tank: www.virtualpolicy.net
blog: terranova.blogs.com
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