To shed new light on the significance of Johan Huizinga`s study, we are organizing a three-day interdisciplinary conference “Games of Late Modernity”, on the concept of play as a grounding structure of reality.
Out of a large body of critique we have distilled a few issues we would like to invite participants respond to, as you will also see in the enclosed Call for Papers. For instance, is it possible to develop a formulation of play that incorporates the most cruel and tragic dimension of (Western) culture as well? Or, one may wonder if, instead of playing, human beings are often being played with. ‘To play’ means ‘to play by the rules’. Is it possible to formulate such rules, or is present-day society best characterized by an absence of rules? Furthermore we invite participants to extricate concepts of play from structuralist and post-structuralist thought. How can, for example, the work of Derrida, Foucault and Levi-Strauss help us to reformulate or strengthen Huizinga’s concept of play? Keynotes are Loïc Wacquant, Thomas Macho, Helmut Lethen, Joyce Goggin, Elena Esposito, and Jos de Mul.
The conference, organized by Tilburg University and Huizinga Research Institute will be held at the intimate estate of the International School for Philosophy (ISVW) in Leusden-the Netherlands from 15 till 17 January 2014. The conference fee of €585 includes a three-night stay, breakfast, lunch, two evening dinners, and refreshments. Also we would like to point out that the conference will result in an edited volume published by Amsterdam University Press.
PhD candidates
The Huizinga Institute offers selected PhD candidates, registered with the Huizinga, a subsidy to cover the conference fee. To apply, please send a motivation letter, stating why participation in this event furthers your research, accompanied by the abstract of your paper and a brief bio of 250 wrds., to ms. Chantal Olijerhoek, via huizinga-fgw[at]uva[dot]nl. Only a limited number of places is available. Of course you are only applicable for funding if your paper is accepted by the organisation of the conference.
Registration deadline is extended to 20 October, 2013.
Please also register here.
This event is part of the extended 2014-15 Huizinga Jubilee Programme of the Huizinga Institute.