Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga

Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga

In Homo Ludens, Johan Huizinga defines play as the central activity in flourishing societies. He identifies five characteristics of play: it is free; it is not ordinary or real life; it is distinct from ordinary life both as to locality and duration; it creates order; it is connected with no material interest, and from it no profit can be gained.

With cross-cultural examples from the humanities, business, and politics, Huizinga examines play in all its diverse guises--as it relates to language, law, war, knowledge, poetry, myth, philosophy, art, and much more. As he writes, Civilization is, in its earliest phases, played. It does not come from play like a baby detaching itself from the womb: it arises in and as play, and never leaves it.

Starting with Plato, Huizinga traces the contribution of man the player through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and early modern world. With an eye for our own times he writes: In American politics play] is even more evident. Long before the two-party system had reduced itself to two gigantic teams whose political differences were hardly discernible to an outsider, electioneering in America had developed into a kind of national sport. With its remarkable historical sweep, Homo Ludens defines play for generations to come.

A fascinating account of 'man the player' and the contribution of play to civilization.--Harper's

A writer with a sharp and powerful intelligence, helped by a gift of expression and exposition which is very rare, Huizinga assembles and interprets one of the most fundamental elements of human culture: the instinct for play. Reading this volume, one suddenly discovers how profoundly the achievements in law, science, poverty, war, philosophy, and in the arts, are nourished by the instinct of play.--Roger Caillois, editor of Diogenes

Johan Huizinga (1872-1945) was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history. Anton van der Lem is a fellow of Leiden University Libraries and an expert on Huizinga. Graeme Small is professor of medieval history at Durham University and the author of several books on the Burgundian low countries and late medieval France. Diane Webb has translated a wide range of literature on art-historical and historical subjects.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781621389989
ISBN 10	1621389987
Title	Homo Ludens
Author	Johan Huizinga
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Angelico Press
Year published	2016-05-31
Number of pages	232
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable