Ludics: Play as Humanistic Inquiry

This book establishes play as a mode of humanistic inquiry with a profound effect on art, culture and society. Play is treated as a dynamic and relational modality where relationships of all kinds are forged and inquisitive interdisciplinary engagement is embraced. Play cultivates reflection, connection, and creativity, offering new epistemological directions for the humanities. With examples from a range of disciplines including poetry, history, science, religion and media, this book treats play as an object of inquiry, but also as a mode of inquiry. The chapters, each focusing on a specific cultural phenomenon, do not simply put culture on display, they put culture in play, providing a playful lens through which to see the world. The reader is encouraged to read the chapters in this book out of order, allowing constructive collision between ideas, moments in history, and theoretical perspectives. The act of reading this book, like the project of the humanities itself, should be emergent, generative, and playful.

Vassiliki Rapti and Eric Gordon are Co-chairs of the Ludics Seminar, Mahindra Humanities Center, Harvard University. Vassiliki Rapti holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. She is the author of Ludics in Surrealist Theatre and Beyond (2013) and of several volumes of translations and poetry collections.
Eric Gordon is professor of civic design and the director of the Engagement Lab at Emerson College in Boston. He is the author of The Urban Spectator (2010), Net Locality: Why Location Matters in a Networked World (2011) and Meaningful Inefficiencies: Civic Design in an Age of Digital Expediency (2020).