About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherUniversity of Nebraska Press

ISBN-100803231814

ISBN-139780803231818

eBay Product ID (ePID)1049283

Product Key Features

Book TitlePlaytexts : Ludics in Contemporary Literature

Number of Pages233 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year1995

TopicGeneral

GenreLiterary Criticism

AuthorWarren Motte, Warren F. Motte

Book SeriesStages Ser.

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1 in

Item Weight21 Oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN94-019827

Dewey Edition20

Reviews"In my favorite chapters Motte demonstrates that the texts themselves are ludic and that my interpretations of them should 'reflect' their intrinsic properties. Motte mentions Lewis Carroll; Carroll and Sterne are the designers-the major players-of fiction written in English. The very fact that they are rarely seen in this light suggests that Playtexts forces every critic to reevaluate, to replay usual formulations. To quote Nabokov: 'Come on! Play! Invent the world!'"-Irving Malin, Review of Contemporary Fiction, "This study, influenced by John Juizinga, who stated that 'play' is a primary civilizing factor, even has a pun in its title. Motte studies the metaphor of play and games as a broad component in national cultures as opposed to its serious counterpart, 'real life.' This work presents paradigms for play with excursions into the creative work of Nabokov, Calvino, Eco, and others. . . . Comprehensive notes and bibliography follow a successful avoidance of jargon."-A. Hirsh, Choice , "A series of wonderfully apt, economical, and witty readings of texts ranging from Breton's Nadja to writing of the 1980s. . . . Sparklingly interesting analytic and interpretive criticism."-Ross Chambers, author ofRoom for Maneuver, "A series of wonderfully apt, economical, and witty readings of texts ranging from Breton's Nadja to writing of the 1980s. . . . Sparklingly interesting analytic and interpretive criticism."-Ross Chambers, author ofRoom for Maneuver , "The question that Warren Motte poses (and answers) is whether or not literature can proceed at all unless the reader is willing and able to play. In an age where the dynamics of play and interactivity have become blurred in the warp-speed technology of an 'on-line' conscience, Motte's meditation on the ludic spirit in literature and culture to which we are all subject is somewhat grounding."-Michael Harper,World Literature Today, "This study, influenced by John Juizinga, who stated that 'play' is a primary civilizing factor, even has a pun in its title. Motte studies the metaphor of play and games as a broad component in national cultures as opposed to its serious counterpart, 'real life.' This work presents paradigms for play with excursions into the creative work of Nabokov, Calvino, Eco, and others. . . . Comprehensive notes and bibliography follow a successful avoidance of jargon."-A. Hirsh,Choice , "A series of wonderfully apt, economical, and witty readings of texts ranging from Breton's Nadja to writing of the 1980s. . . . Sparklingly interesting analytic and interpretive criticism."-Ross Chambers, author of Room for Maneuver , "In my favorite chapters Motte demonstrates that the texts themselves are ludic and that my interpretations of them should 'reflect' their intrinsic properties. Motte mentions Lewis Carroll; Carroll and Sterne are the designers-the major players-of fiction written in English. The very fact that they are rarely seen in this light suggests that Playtexts forces every critic to reevaluate, to replay usual formulations. To quote Nabokov: 'Come on! Play! Invent the world!'"-Irving Malin,Review of Contemporary Fiction, "A series of wonderfully apt, economical, and witty readings of texts ranging from Breton's Nadja to writing of the 1980s. . . . Sparklingly interesting analytic and interpretive criticism."-Ross Chambers, author of Room for Maneuver, "This study, influenced by John Juizinga, who stated that 'play' is a primary civilizing factor, even has a pun in its title. Motte studies the metaphor of play and games as a broad component in national cultures as opposed to its serious counterpart, 'real life.' This work presents paradigms for play with excursions into the creative work of Nabokov, Calvino, Eco, and others. . . . Comprehensive notes and bibliography follow a successful avoidance of jargon."-A. Hirsh, Choice, "The question that Warren Motte poses (and answers) is whether or not literature can proceed at all unless the reader is willing and able to play. In an age where the dynamics of play and interactivity have become blurred in the warp-speed technology of an 'on-line' conscience, Motte's meditation on the ludic spirit in literature and culture to which we are all subject is somewhat grounding."-Michael Harper, World Literature Today

Series Volume NumberVol. 3

Dewey Decimal801/.9

Synopsis"Not hubris but the ever self-renewing impulse to play calls new worlds into being."--Nietzsche Parents and politicians have always taken play seriously. Its formative powers, its focus, its energy, and its ability to signify other things have drawn the attention of writers from Plato and Schiller to Wittgenstein, Nabokov, and Eco. The ease with which an election becomes perceived as a race, a political crisis as a football game, or an argument as a tennis match readily proves how much play means to contemporary life. Just how play confers meaning, however, is best revealed in literature, where meaning is perpetually at stake. "At stake" itself, the risk of a gamble, is only one intersection between play and life. Playtexts reveals numerous junctures where literary playfulness--seemingly so diverting and irrelevant--instead opens the most profound questions about creativity, community, value, and belief. How do authors play with their words and readers? Can literature proceed at all unless a reader is willing and able to play? No moralizing monologue, Playtexts is all for exuberance and creative surge: Breton's construction of an antinovel, Gombrowicz's struggle with adult formalities, Nabokov's swats at the humorless, Sarrazin's seductive notes, Eco's recasting of spy and detective fiction, Reyes's carnal metaphorics., Not hubris but the ever self-renewing impulse to play calls new worlds into being. NietzscheParents and politicians have always taken play seriously. Its formative powers, its focus, its energy, and its ability to signify other things have drawn the attention of writers from Plato and Schiller to Wittgenstein, Nabokov, and Eco. The ease with which an election becomes perceived as a race, a political crisis as a football game, or an argument as a tennis match readily proves how much play means to contemporary life. Just how play confers meaning, however, is best revealed in literature, where meaning is perpetually at stake. At stake itself, the risk of a gamble, is only one intersection between play and life. "Playtexts" reveals numerous junctures where literary playfulness seemingly so diverting and irrelevant instead opens the most profound questions about creativity, community, value, and belief. How do authors play with their words and readers? Can literature proceed at all unless a reader is willing and able to play?No moralizing monologue, "Playtexts" is all for exuberance and creative surge: Breton s construction of an antinovel, Gombrowicz s struggle with adult formalities, Nabokov s swats at the humorless, Sarrazin s seductive notes, Eco s recasting of spy and detective fiction, Reyes s carnal metaphorics."

LC Classification NumberPN81.M675 1995