Ludicology

Brian Sutton-Smith: playing with stories and ideas about play

Friday November 22, 2019

Any website concerned with children's play must include the late great play scholar Brian Sutton-Smith. If you haven't come across him, you must seek out his work, it's beautiful and enlightening. Here, he joins the dots between play, narratives (stories) and humour, making a case for 'play as emotional survival'. Explaining the links between his 308 forms of play, 7 rhetorics, Antonio Damasio's forms of emotion and the Opies’ types of humour.

These videos were produced as a part of the International Play Association Conference, 2011, were shared by Play Wales and include Brian Sutton-Smith, in conversation with both Dr Fraser Brown and Professor Michael Patte at the Strong National Museum of Play (Rochester, NY). Many thanks to them for the production of the interview and for their willingness to share.

Sign Up To Our Newsletter

Get in Touch

Ludicology support those interested in play and playfulness to develop evidence based play centred policies and practices through our advice, research and training services. Use this form to get in touch and to let us know what kind of support you require.