The Discipline of Play: Is There a Future For Children's Lore in Academia?
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Abstract
There is no discipline of play, and it is thriving. The pun and paradox in my title are intentional, for one of the chief characteristics of playas defined by Johan Huizinga in 1938 is that it is free. So, too, it seems, is play as an academic subject. It is covered by many fields of study, and by none in particular. Because so much of play is considered children's lore and because related studies of games, rhymes, childhood rituals and the like lend themselves toward collections and compendia, it is easy and obvious for the relevant literature to be included under the umbrella of studies in folklore. But play is also embraced by the fields of anthropology, behavioral studies, psychology, education, mathematics (think of puzzles), and biology (think of chimpanzees). What is more, where the study of play is concerned, there is a remarkably enthusiastic and generous exchange of theory and acknowledgement of scholarship across these disciplines.
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