Project description
The impact of play on making (U.S.) America a political ‘world’
Play is linked to change and the creation of new worlds. It has intensified with the rise of social media and is reshaping traditional rules. The ERC-funded WORLDING-AMERICA project will examine how ‘play’ has influenced the emergence of the US as a global force from 1503 to the present. The project will focus on historical instances where the introduction of new visual mediums led to significant political change, analysing Worlding Colonial America through Engravings (1590-1776), Worlding the Nation through Newspaper Cartoons (1870-1924), Worlding the Body Politic through Television (1972-2022), and Worlding Colonial Mars through Twitter/X (2006-2028). Using qualitative methods, the project will compare these instances and explore the potential for counter-hegemonic play.
Objective
WORLDING AMERICA researches how “play” has been a key force in the past and present process of creating America as a coherent and hegemonic “world,” from 1503 to the present. Play is an activity linked to change, serious even when frivolous, potentially transgressive even when rule-bound. Play intersects with the process of worlding (bringing a new world into existence) in liminal moments. In such unstable phases, when new worlds take shape, but are not yet consolidated, play comes to the fore as a way to probe possibilities.
I seek out such historical moments of disruptive play when a new visual medium was introduced that contributed directly to tangible political change. I study four pivotal cases: Worlding Colonial America through Engravings, 1590-1776; Worlding the Nation through Newspaper Cartoons, 1870-1924; Worlding the Body Politic through Television, 1972-2022; Worlding Colonial Mars through Twitter/X, 2006-2028. Tracing specific elements of play, in particular imagination, invitation, participation, and improvisation, across cases, I demonstrate how forms of play have been essential to American worlding in ever evolving mediascapes. I hypothesize that play has intensified through the rise of social media, to such an extent that current forms of worlding driven by play have overridden traditional rules of politics, thus changing the game while playing it.
I employ source-based qualitative methods from cultural history, media studies, and American studies to synthesize these cases of hegemonic playful worlding, into a comparative transhistorical framework. I move beyond American grand narratives so as to understand the role of play in their construction and implementation, thus contributing an innovative dimension to the composite field of American Studies. Additionally, I explore potential for counterhegemonic play.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-STG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2311 EZ Leiden
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.