Browse Hierarchy COM5049: Serious Play: European Literary Games from the Past to the Present

In recent years, we have seen play and gaming increasingly harnessed for serious purposes: from Duolingo's gamification of language-learning, to the life-changing games of Netflix's 'Squid Game'. But literary play is still often associated with nonsense rhymes and time-wasting word games. This module will question these perceptions by exploring practices of literary play across a range of European linguistic and cultural contexts, from the 1300s to today. It will encourage students to consider the many serious stakes that literary play has had. Finally, by examining a variety of media (texts, material culture, and videogames), it will bring students to reflect on what play is, how 'a game' is different from play, and what makes something 'literary'.