[Air-L] The Meaning of Play

[Ren Reynolds]

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 at aldermangroup.com>
> To: list aoir <air-l at aoir.org>
> Subject: [Air-L] The Meaning of Play
> Message-ID: <735A8F73-97A5-4ECC-A1EB-5FD2EAA0B857 at 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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