Impossible Reversal

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A History of How We Play

Häftad, Engelska, 2026

AvPeter D. McDonald

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Tracing the cultural history of play - from Fluxus to SimCityGames and gamified activities have become ubiquitous in many adults' lives, and play is widely valued for fostering creativity, community, growth, and empathy. But how did we come to our current understanding of what it means to play? The Impossible Reversal charts the transformation of notions of playfulness beginning in the second half of the twentieth century, when a legion of artists, academics, and engineers developed new ways of theorizing, structuring, and designing ludic activity.Through examples ranging from experimental Fluxus games to corporate role-playing exercises and from the Easy Bake Oven to Tetris, The Impossible Reversal presents four styles of playfulness characteristic of the "era of designed play": the impossible reversal, which puts a player in a seemingly hopeless scenario they must upend with a tiny gesture; expending the secret, which involves silly rules that gain an obscure power and require players to embrace failure; simulated freedom, a satiric criticism of the ordinary world; and oblique repetition, a way of playing that stumbles toward unimaginable outcomes through simple, meaningless, and endlessly iterated acts.A unique genealogical account of play as both concept and practice, The Impossible Reversal illuminates how playfulness became essential for understanding cultural, technical, and economic production in the United States.Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly with images accompanied by short alt text and/or extended descriptions.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-02-28
Mått140 x 216 x 18 mm
Vikt425 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor352
FörlagUniversity of Minnesota Press
ISBN9781517916220

Tillhör följande kategorier

Konsthistoria inom Kultur
Medievetenskap inom Samhälle och politik
Sociala grupper och identitet inom Samhälle och politik
Teknik: allmänt inom Naturvetenskap och teknik
Informationsteknik: allmänt inom Data och IT

ContentsIntroduction: Interpreting PlayPart I. The Impossible Reversal1. Play Without Rules: George Brecht and the Uncertainty of Judgment2. Pinball Logics: From the EM Arcades to The Incredible MachinePart II. Expending the Secret3. Play Without Knowing: Yoko Ono and the Anthropology of Ritual4. Act Natural: From Therapeutic Role-Play to Super Mario WorldPart III. Simulated Freedom5. Play Without End: Benjamin Patterson and Liberal Subjectivity6. Model Citizens: From Management Training to SimCityPart IV. Oblique Repetition7. Play Without Meaning: Shigeko Kubota and the Semiotics of Chess8. Adventures in Abstraction: From Media Panic to TetrisConclusion: Synthesizing Video GamesAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex

"In this ambitious book, Peter D. McDonald traces the critical rise of play as a modern medium of expression and as an element of design. His analysis of commercial toys and games, the embodied role of the player, and the artistic production of the avant-garde artist offers a new model for thinking about imaginative intellectual engagement with the material world."—Amy F. Ogata, University of Southern California"Peter D. McDonald dazzles in this history, which reveals the many discursive twists, turns, and even tricks of play in the twentieth century. The Impossible Reversal is essential reading for scholars of play and games alike – and perhaps even the seed of a new and exciting field of play studies."—Aaron Trammell, University of California, Irvine

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