When Huizinga meets Gombrich: on playfulness and seriousness of play

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to review the theory of play mentioned by Ernst Hans Gombrich and Johan Huizinga in "The High Seriousness of Play" and "Homo ludens" respectively, through the comparative method, in order to comprehend the interpretation made by Gombrich about the play and other related issues. The article consists of four sections. The first section briefly describes the essential content and the purpose of this paper. The second section summarizes and interprets the theory of play formulated by Huizinga in ¿Homo ludens¿. The third section evaluates Huizinga's thought through Gombrich's opinion on play and emphasizes the role of the ¿spoilsport¿ in order to reveal that, instead of the game rule a priori, the player with the free mind and will is the true efficient cause of culture making. The last section attempts to build the relation between play and serious attitude, as well as to explain why the activity of play may contain the dual character of playfulness and seriousness.