College of Arts & Humanities
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1611
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item Play Studies: Integrating Drama, Games, and Ludi from the Medieval to the Digital Age(2017) Kelber, Nathan; Kirschenbaum, Matthew; Leinwand, Theodore; English Language and Literature; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)At first glance, the fact that the English word for drama is “play” must strike the modern reader as odd. Playing is usually an activity we associate with games (or musical instruments), yet this odd linguistic trace is a forgotten marker of how far the modern sense of drama has strayed from its antecedents. This dissertation recovers the historical relationship of drama, play, and games, developing a shared discourse under the rubric of “play studies.” Play is defined in two complementary phenomenological frameworks, methexis and mimesis, to enable scholarship that transcends historical, cultural, and material boundaries. The first chapter engages the linguistic confusion surrounding late medieval drama (with examples from Mankind, cycle plays, and Fulgens and Lucres) and medieval games (The Game and Playe of the Chesse, The Book of Games), arguing that the medieval English view of play can help correct and complicate modern game scholarship. The second chapter takes up this medieval perspective of play-as-methexis and demonstrates its applicability to digital media of the late 20th century with examples from video games like Tetris and Dragon’s Lair. Along the way, this chapter also makes ontological arguments in relation to early computer history, software studies, and media archaeology, advocating that a fuller understanding of games depends on the willingness of humanities scholars to build, hack, and play with media using methods normally reserved for artists and scientists. The final chapter considers the lasting legacy of the medieval play-as-game, particularly how the development of English drama is indebted to the theater buildings that created a space for the sustained collaboration of players with a variety of skills. The final section considers the current state of Shakespeare-as-play, including 21st-century productions, digital video games, and board games.Item The Enculturative Function of Toys and Games in Ancient Greece and Rome(2008) Layne, Jaime Marie; Holum, Kenneth G; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Title of Thesis: THE ENCULTURATIVE FUNCTION OF TOYS AND GAMES IN ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME Jaime Marie Layne, Master of Arts, 2008 Thesis directed by: Professor Kenneth G. Holum Department of History The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the enculturative function of children's toys and games in ancient Greece and Rome. Children's play has been shown to affect their development on many different levels including cognitive, behavioral, and psychological. Play is also one method through which cultures work to enculturate children. Enculturation is the process by which cultural values and behaviors are transmitted from adults to children. In chapter 1, I review the historical background of study of enculturation. In chapter 2, I discuss the evidence for ancient Greek and Roman children's toys and games. In chapter 3, I examine the contribution toys and games made to the enculturation of children in ancient Greece and Rome. I conclude that, while children's entertainment was not the only method of enculturation used in ancient Greece and Rome, it was one important part of the network of cultural institutions focused on this process.