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A review by tiff_low
Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture by Johan Huizinga
3.0
Homo Ludens is a study into play where Huizinga argues that play is an element in everyday life. It was recommended to me by Daniel Bosch, my English professor. The book provided insight into ancient cultures, their linguistic, and contests that contributes to play-like qualities. We explored how play is found in poetry, war, philosophy, contest (and more) of both archaic and modern societies. This book gave a great general scope of humanity through the thread of play, something that I did not consider previously. For example, the magical sphere of play that is bounded by rules and time, the innocence of play (where we play for the sake of playing), and the seemingly bipolar concepts of play and seriousness that are more intertwined than we expect.
However, I found that I did not understand a number of the references due to my limited understanding of historic literature (ex. Plato). I hope to return to this book when I have more time, considering I finished this during finals week and was forced to return it, and a broader understanding of Greek texts. This was also partly my fault because I went into this book not knowing it was essentially a formal study, and the reading is dense.
However, I found that I did not understand a number of the references due to my limited understanding of historic literature (ex. Plato). I hope to return to this book when I have more time, considering I finished this during finals week and was forced to return it, and a broader understanding of Greek texts. This was also partly my fault because I went into this book not knowing it was essentially a formal study, and the reading is dense.