Whalen1995a

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Whalen1995a
BibType ARTICLE
Key Whalen1995a
Author(s) Marilyn R. Whalen
Title Working toward play: complexity in children's fantasy activities
Editor(s)
Tag(s) Children, play, socialization
Publisher
Year 1995
Language
City
Month
Journal Language in Society
Volume 24
Number 3
Pages 315–348
URL Link
DOI 10.1017/S0047404500018789
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

Children's play activities are widely perceived as developing from primitive to increasingly complex forms of social organization, as children mature and acquire interactional competency. Research following this traditional, developmentally oriented approach postulates that sports and games with rules are the most advanced and complex form of play activity; activities involving fantasy and pretend-play are viewed in comparison as considerably less complex. This article argues that fantasy play encounters exhibit complex features in their own right, and that long-held distinctions between higher-order games and fantasy play are conceptually overdrawn. The argument is grounded in a conversation analytic study of the play activities of a cross-sex, mixed-age neighborhood play group. This analysis focuses on the endogenous social organization of a fantasy play encounter.

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