In his lecture today, Troy discussed Johan Huizinga’s theory (as presented in his 1938 book Homo Ludens) that ‘play preceded culture’.
By this he means that play is necessary to the construction of culture. Play preceded culture – play is older than, and came before, culture. Animals played long before humans, they didn’t wait for humans to teach them. It is a tool through which organisms establish a social order and a set of rules.
Huizinga also suggests five essential characteristics of play: (*ref wikipedia)
- Play is free, is in fact freedom.
- Play is not “ordinary” or “real” life.
- Play is distinct from “ordinary” life both as to locality and duration.
- Play creates order, is order. Play demands order absolute and supreme.
- Play is connected with no material interest, and no profit can be gained from it.