CFP: Playthings in Early Modernity

Allison Levy, the series editor of Ashgate Publishing's series Visual
Culture in Early Modernity, is seeking contributions from scholars working
on Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia for her next volume, titled *Playthings
in Early Modernity: Party Games, Word Games, Mind Games. *

Please contact Allison directly with any questions or contributions, and
please forward this message to any colleagues who may be interested.

 *CFP: PLAYTHINGS IN EARLY MODERNITY: PARTY GAMES, WORD GAMES, MIND GAMES
(edited collection)*

Contributions are sought for an interdisciplinary collection of essays to
be edited by Allison Levy and published by Ashgate Publishing Co. in the
new book series, *Cultures of Play, 1300-1700* (see
http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=5166; series editor Bret
Rothstein). Dedicated to early modern playfulness, this series serves two
purposes. First, it recounts the history of wit, humor, and games, from
jokes and sermons, for instance, to backgammon and blind man’s buff.
Second, in addressing its topic – ludic culture – broadly, *Cultures of
Play *also provides a forum for reconceptualizing the play elements of
early modern economic, political, religious, and social life.

Within this framework, PLAYTHINGS IN EARLY MODERNITY: PARTY GAMES, WORD
GAMES, MIND GAMES emphasizes the rules of the game(s) as well as the
breaking of those rules: playmates and game changers, teammates and
tricksters, matchmakers and deal breakers, gamblers and grifters, scripts
and ventriloquism, charades and masquerades, game pieces and pawns. Thus, a
‘plaything’ is understood as both an object and a person, and play, in
early modern Europe (1300-1700), is treated not merely as a pastime, a
leisurely pursuit, but also as a pivotal part of daily life, a strategic
psychosocial endeavor: Why do we play games – with and upon each other as
well as ourselves? Who are the winners, and who are the losers? Desirable
essays will also consider the *spaces* of play: from the stage to the
street, from the pulpit to the piazza, from the bedroom to the brothel:
What happens when players go ‘out of bounds,’ or when games go ‘too far’? We
seek new and innovative scholarship at the nexus of material culture/the
study of objects, performance studies, and game theory. We welcome
proposals from a wide range of disciplines, including gender studies,
childhood studies, history, languages and literature, theater history,
religious studies, the history and philosophy of science, philosophy,
psychology, and the history of art and visual culture.



PLAYTHINGS IN EARLY MODERNITY: PARTY GAMES, WORD GAMES, MIND GAMES will be
an illustrated volume, with individual contributors responsible for any
permission and/or art acquisition fees. Final essays, of approximately
8,000 words (incl. notes), and all accompanying b&w
illustrations/permissions will be due no later than January 15, 2015. For
consideration, please send an abstract (max. 500 words), a preliminary list
of illustrations (if applicable), and a CV to Allison Levy (
[email protected] or [email protected]) by September 15,
2014. Notifications will be emailed by the end of September.



=======================================================
SHERA
Society of Historians of East European, Eurasian, and Russian Art and
Architecture
www.shera-art.org
Margaret Samu, President
Natasha Kurchanova, Vice-President/President-Elect
Yelena Kalinsky, Secretary-Treasurer
[email protected] <[email protected]>

_______________________________________________
Shera mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.oakland.edu/mailman/listinfo/shera