After missing a number of European events (sadly the Breaking the Magic Circle seminar in Tampere and the Philosophy of Games conference in Potsdam, oh well) I made it to lovely Edinburgh, for an interesting though small two days conference on “Play” - from psychology to literature to videogames, hosted by the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh.
It was astonishing to see the productivity of a multi-disciplinary approach (and not just because that is “my” approach as well).
The panel to which I participated, with the presentation “Playful Culture and Glamorization of Everyday (Virtual) Life: Elements of Play in Facebook Applications” (you can download it here) went on smoothly from a presentation on adult play in psychology, to play in Situationism and artistic modding. While not everybody knew about ludus and paidia, still I wonder if such a general (and productive) discourse would have been possible in a very strict “game studies” ambiance.
I wonder also if such an approach to play can be reproduced in media studies.
Here is the full programme.