Homo Ludens (book) - III. Play and Contest As Civilizing Functions

III. Play and Contest As Civilizing Functions

“The view we take in the following pages is that culture arises in the form of play, that it is played from the very beginning... Social life is endued with supra-biological forms, in the shape of play, which enhances its value.”

Huizinga does not mean that “play turns into culture”. Rather, he sets play and culture side by side, talks about their “twin union”, but insists that “play is primary”.

Read more about this topic:  Homo Ludens (book)

Famous quotes containing the words iii, play, contest, civilizing and/or functions:

    Knavery seems to be so much a the striking feature of its inhabitants that it may not in the end be an evil that they will become aliens to this kingdom.
    —George III (1738–1820)

    Play for young children is not recreation activity,... It is not leisure-time activity nor escape activity.... Play is thinking time for young children. It is language time. Problem-solving time. It is memory time, planning time, investigating time. It is organization-of-ideas time, when the young child uses his mind and body and his social skills and all his powers in response to the stimuli he has met.
    James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)

    The contest ends at midnight tonight
    But you can submit again, and again.
    John Ashbery (b. 1927)

    The socialism of our day has done good service in setting men to thinking how certain civilizing benefits, now only enjoyed by the opulent, can be enjoyed by all.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    The English masses are lovable: they are kind, decent, tolerant, practical and not stupid. The tragedy is that there are too many of them, and that they are aimless, having outgrown the servile functions for which they were encouraged to multiply. One day these huge crowds will have to seize power because there will be nothing else for them to do, and yet they neither demand power nor are ready to make use of it; they will learn only to be bored in a new way.
    Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)