Person
Johan Huizinga
Play & Sport
Culture & IdentityWho is Johan Huizinga in the Agency editorial?
Johan Huizinga was a Dutch historian, known for the books The Autumn of the Middle Ages and Homo Ludens. Issue.23 names him once, in the author's prose, as the writer of the 1938 book Homo Ludens, and sums up the book's thesis that play is a fundamental aspect of human culture.
In short
Johan Huizinga (1872 to 1945) was a Dutch historian, author of Homo Ludens (1938). In the Agency editorial he appears only in Issue.23, in one paragraph of the author's prose. The author says he saw the term Homo Ludens first in a game by Hideo Kojima, second in papers by Vilém Flusser, and third in the book written in 1938 by Johan Huizinga, where, according to the edition, the term was first coined. The edition then sums up the book: play is a fundamental aspect of human culture and permeates art, language, law and rituals.
Key facts
- Who was Johan Huizinga?
- A Dutch historian who lived from 1872 to 1945, known for The Autumn of the Middle Ages and for Homo Ludens, a 1938 study of play in culture.
- Where does the Agency editorial name Johan Huizinga?
- Only in Issue.23, in one paragraph of the author's prose about the term Homo Ludens. He is named twice in that paragraph, once by full name and once as Huizinga.
- What does Issue.23 say about his book?
- That the main thesis of Homo Ludens is that play is a fundamental aspect of human culture, present in art, language, law and rituals, and that play is not a trivial or frivolous activity.
Who was Johan Huizinga?
Johan Huizinga was a Dutch historian, born in 1872 and dead in 1945. He is known for The Autumn of the Middle Ages, published in 1919, and for Homo Ludens, published in 1938. These facts come from outside the edition and are marked for verification.
How does Johan Huizinga appear in Issue.23?
Issue.23 names him in a single paragraph. The author tells where he met the term Homo Ludens: first in a game by Hideo Kojima, second in research papers by Vilém Flusser, and third in a book written in 1938 by Johan Huizinga, where, in the edition's words, the term was first coined. The edition says that in this work Huizinga explores the significance of play in human culture and society, and that he argues play is a crucial element that shapes human civilization. The paragraph closes with Hideo Kojima's reading of the term, not Huizinga's.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.