Play and Image: Outlines of a Media Theory of the Ludic Phenomenon

Abstract

The essay’s fundamental aim is to propose a theory of the ludic phenomenon grounded in a linkage between play and image. The first part examines several classic theories of play, schematically arranged along the subjective/objective dichotomy. After showing the limits of both approaches, the essay outlines a media–theoretical approach to play that charts a third way beyond subjectivism and objectivism: the ludic phenomenon is reducible neither to a subject’s disposition nor to a fixed set of rules, but should be described as a specific mode of being. By reconstructing the ludic phenomenon from the standpoint of the image, the essay clarifies how this account differs from performative theories of the social sphere. In conclusion, the concept of playfication is offered as a theoretical and normative alternative to the notion of gamification.