What are we playing with? Role-taking, role-play, and story-play with Tolkien's legendarium

Through examples of role-taking, role-play, and story-play with various artworks that draw against Tolkien's legendarium, this paper develops a distinctive perspective on imaginative play. While ‘playing with’ usually refers to the specific objects used as toys and ‘playing at’ to the roles assumed in such play, examining play situations from the perspective of the make-believe theory of representation (prop theory) suggests a specific relationship between these two aspects of playing. By examining which props are being used in any given play situation, and comparing their metaphorical position in the foreground or background of the imaginary game being played, parallels and distinctions between different kinds of play can be explored and contrasted. The paper offers a phenomenology of imaginative play that helps to clarify exactly what we are playing with when we engage in any kind of imaginings, whether with toys, games, or stories

Aesthetics · Art · Epistemology · Parallels · Psychoanalysis · Role playing · The Imaginary · Visual arts · Artificial Intelligence in Games · Digital Games and Media · Philosophy · Psychology · Themes in Literature Analysis

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