What do you think?
Rate this book
Playframes: How Do We Know We Are Playing?
An exploration of how we know we’re playing and what happens when we don’t.
Playframes builds on the work of Gregory Bateson and Erving Goffman to take a deep dive into his primary How do we know we’re playing? In this book, Celia Pearce addresses this question by building a comprehensive theory of the specific mechanisms that metacommunicate the message “this is play.” This “big tent” approach covers a broad swath of playframes, ranging from theme parks, to cosplay, to board and video games to sports, and describes how spatial and temporal frames, as well as artifacts such as costumes and uniforms, toys, sports equipment, and so on, let us know when a play activity is underway.
Pearce teases out distinctions between ritual and play activities, including social practices in which they merge or are indistinguishable, as well as incidents of frame breach or misalignment, where participants’ perception of “what is going on” diverges. These principles are illustrated with a series of four topical studies that explore various scenarios in which play and non-play contexts are juxtaposed or blurred. These span from delightful—fan convention cosplay and simulated and virtual weddings—to confusing—virtual currency and bitcoin—to dangerous. Building on recent research, the book culminates with an in-depth analysis of the gaming roots of the January 6 Capitol insurrection and argues that playframe breach and deliberate misalignment were the major contributing factors.
Playframes builds on the work of Gregory Bateson and Erving Goffman to take a deep dive into his primary How do we know we’re playing? In this book, Celia Pearce addresses this question by building a comprehensive theory of the specific mechanisms that metacommunicate the message “this is play.” This “big tent” approach covers a broad swath of playframes, ranging from theme parks, to cosplay, to board and video games to sports, and describes how spatial and temporal frames, as well as artifacts such as costumes and uniforms, toys, sports equipment, and so on, let us know when a play activity is underway.
Pearce teases out distinctions between ritual and play activities, including social practices in which they merge or are indistinguishable, as well as incidents of frame breach or misalignment, where participants’ perception of “what is going on” diverges. These principles are illustrated with a series of four topical studies that explore various scenarios in which play and non-play contexts are juxtaposed or blurred. These span from delightful—fan convention cosplay and simulated and virtual weddings—to confusing—virtual currency and bitcoin—to dangerous. Building on recent research, the book culminates with an in-depth analysis of the gaming roots of the January 6 Capitol insurrection and argues that playframe breach and deliberate misalignment were the major contributing factors.
324 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 17, 2024
1 person is currently reading
14 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 21, 2025
The kind of book that’s almost annoying it’s so good. How dare you be so eloquent, where have you been for the last few years while I’ve been fumbling in my research!?
Displaying 1 of 1 review