The Serious Play of Writing

Abstract

This article describes the serious artist as originating from moments of broken play. It distinguishes between two types of seriousness: disciplinary seriousness (taking on oneself the responsibilities of an adult expert who abides by the rules of the game) and poetic seriousness (revealed from the point of view of the child whose play has been exposed). Two autobiographical moments are recounted, exemplifying the latter type of seriousness, and different related issues are discussed and connected to the new writing in social science such as the movement back of memory; the possibility of being seriously light; the poetic as a measure against any frozen form; and poetic writing as performance, experiment, and break-dance.

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