La serietà del gioco / The seriousness of ludicity

Lunghe vicende del sistema ludico / A long view of the ludic system

by Gherardo Ortalli

Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche-Viella

Treviso-Rome, forthcoming

28 pages

one illustration

(Ludica Minima, 1; free of charge)

When, with Gaetano Cozzi, was introduced the debate on “the seriousness of ludicity” at the height of the 1980s, the expression seemed like a play on words, almost a contradiction in terms. It marked, however, the first step that the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche took towards a series of highly significant cultural initiatives that have made a crucial contribution to overcoming deeply entrenched preconceptions in this field of studies. 2010 brought eloquent proof of the “seriousness” of the Foundation’s commitment when the Accademia dei Lincei invited Gherardo Ortalli to deliver that year’s “Calamandrei Lecture” on the Seriousness of ludicity. The previously unpublished text of his lecture now opens the new series of “Ludica Minima”.

 

Contents

Presentazione

La serietà del gioco. Lunghe vicende del sistema ludico

Introduction

The seriousness of ludicity. A long view of the ludic system

 

Gherardo Ortalli, Emeritus professor of History at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, he has been associated with the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche since its creation. He is the editor of the journal «Ludica. Annali di storia e civiltà del gioco» and chairman of the Gaetano Cozzi Prize for studies on the history of games. A former chairman of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, and a member of several other Italian and foreign academies, his awards include the 2017 Federico Chabod Prize of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei for the best work on mediaeval, modern or contemporary history published in the previous five years, and the 2018 Osella d’Oro Prize for studies on Venice.