‘Why Read Literature?’: Appeasing the Appetite for Play
This article begins by questioning the ethical turn in literary studies (Hillis Miller, Attridge) and suggests that this redirection has tended to downplay the importance of what Friedrich Schiller had labelled ‘the play-drive’ (Spieltrieb). Drawing on neuroscientist Jaak Panskepp’s findings concern...
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis
2018
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| _version_ | 1825721614110556160 |
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| author | Pagan, Nicholas Osborne |
| author_facet | Pagan, Nicholas Osborne |
| author_sort | Pagan, Nicholas Osborne |
| collection | UM |
| description | This article begins by questioning the ethical turn in literary studies (Hillis Miller, Attridge) and suggests that this redirection has tended to downplay the importance of what Friedrich Schiller had labelled ‘the play-drive’ (Spieltrieb). Drawing on neuroscientist Jaak Panskepp’s findings concerning the primacy of the play instincts, the article focuses on Wolfgang Iser’s ‘literary anthropology’ and a theory of reading that can describe games played by authors and readers in what, following Freud, may be called a ‘playground’ (Tummelplatz). Iser’s concepts ‘the fictive’ and ‘the imaginary’ are then placed alongside traditional concepts from play theory to explore an extract from Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye in which the protagonist plays with and dismembers a doll. This analysis appropriates, in particular, Iser’s ideas in order to highlight the fundamentally playful nature of our engagement with literature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T05:53:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | um.eprints-21050 |
| institution | Universiti Malaya |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T05:53:01Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | um.eprints-210502019-04-24T03:54:16Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/21050/ ‘Why Read Literature?’: Appeasing the Appetite for Play Pagan, Nicholas Osborne PE English This article begins by questioning the ethical turn in literary studies (Hillis Miller, Attridge) and suggests that this redirection has tended to downplay the importance of what Friedrich Schiller had labelled ‘the play-drive’ (Spieltrieb). Drawing on neuroscientist Jaak Panskepp’s findings concerning the primacy of the play instincts, the article focuses on Wolfgang Iser’s ‘literary anthropology’ and a theory of reading that can describe games played by authors and readers in what, following Freud, may be called a ‘playground’ (Tummelplatz). Iser’s concepts ‘the fictive’ and ‘the imaginary’ are then placed alongside traditional concepts from play theory to explore an extract from Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye in which the protagonist plays with and dismembers a doll. This analysis appropriates, in particular, Iser’s ideas in order to highlight the fundamentally playful nature of our engagement with literature. Taylor & Francis 2018 Article PeerReviewed Pagan, Nicholas Osborne (2018) ‘Why Read Literature?’: Appeasing the Appetite for Play. Journal of Language, Literature and Culture, 65 (1). pp. 11-22. ISSN 2051-2856, DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/20512856.2018.1443630 <https://doi.org/10.1080/20512856.2018.1443630>. https://doi.org/10.1080/20512856.2018.1443630 doi:10.1080/20512856.2018.1443630 |
| spellingShingle | PE English Pagan, Nicholas Osborne ‘Why Read Literature?’: Appeasing the Appetite for Play |
| title | ‘Why Read Literature?’: Appeasing the Appetite for Play |
| title_full | ‘Why Read Literature?’: Appeasing the Appetite for Play |
| title_fullStr | ‘Why Read Literature?’: Appeasing the Appetite for Play |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Why Read Literature?’: Appeasing the Appetite for Play |
| title_short | ‘Why Read Literature?’: Appeasing the Appetite for Play |
| title_sort | why read literature appeasing the appetite for play |
| topic | PE English |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pagannicholasosborne whyreadliteratureappeasingtheappetiteforplay |