Playful Classics by Dr Juliette Harrisson (Newman University, UK)

This is the first book to deal exclusively with ludic interactions with classical antiquity - an understudied research area within classical reception studies - that can shed light on current processes of construction and appropriation of the Greco-Roman world. Classical antiquity has, for many years, been sold as a product and consumed in a wide variety of forms of entertainment. As a result, games, playing and playful experiences are a privileged space for the reception of antiquity. Through the medium of games, players, performers and audiences are put into direct contact with the classical past, and encouraged to experience it in a participative, creative and subjective fashion. The chapters in this volume, written by scholars and practitioners, cover a variety of topics and cultural artefacts including toys, board games and video games, as well as immersive experiences such as museums, theme parks and toga parties. The contributors tackle contemporary ludic practices and several papers establish a dialogue between artists and scholars, contrasting and harmonising their different approaches to the role of playfulness. Other chapters explore the educational potential of these manifestations, or their mediating role in shaping our conceptions of ancient Greece and Rome. Altogether, this edited collection is the first to offer a comprehensive overview of the ways we can play with antiquity.

Offers a wide-ranging overview of the reception of Greco-Roman antiquity as a ludic process.

About the Author
Juliette Harrisson is Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at Birmingham Newman University, UK. Martin Lindner is Lecturer in Ancient History and Curator of the Tom Stern Collection film archive at the University of Goettingen, Germany. Luis Unceta Gomez is Lecturer in Latin Philology at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.

Reviews
A brilliant and playful demonstration of how to organise, focus and contextualise these important individual contributions from a remarkable conference. -- Gregory N. Daugherty, Professor Emeritus of Classics Randolph-Macon College, USA



Book Information
ISBN 9781350418622
Author Dr Juliette Harrisson
Format Hardback
Page Count 288
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Series IMAGINES - Classical Receptions in the Visual and Performing Arts