Play Theory: A Personal Journey and New Thoughts

by Brian Sutton-Smith

[Article Abstract]

A preeminent play-theory scholar reviews a lifetime devoted to the study of play in a lively, even playful, recounting of his illustrious career and some of its autobiographical roots. The author covers the development of his three major theories of play—as a viability variable, as culturally relative play forms, and as a co-evolutionary multiplex of functions—and points to some new areas of inquiry on the topic.