Jakob Löfgren Publishes New Book

Associate Senior Lecturer in Ethnology, Jakob Löfgren, is the editor and co-author of a new book called Adventures in the Play-Ritual Continuum.

Tell us about the book, Jakob!

- I have been part of the editorial team together with my folklorist colleagues from Norway, Ireland and England. I also have my own chapter on ceremonies and play in fandom and conventions, where I explore questions like: Can you play ceremonially? What happens to a ceremony if you know you're playing? I think it's a good example of how to use the concepts of play and ritual today.

What has been most exciting about this project?

- The most exciting thing has been to examine the continuum in the conceptual world around play and ritual. In our empirical chapters we see that what is ritual and what is play is rather on a continuum. It has also been really fun to see what the writers can do and describe with it. There are chapters on everything from extremely male races and football supporters, to erotic games at bachelorette parties, and anti-racist demonstrations in the United States.

Why is this an important topic to explore?

- Understanding ritual and play as being on the same 'spectrum' opens up opportunities to better discuss everything from our public ceremonies, such as the opening of Parliament, to live role-playing. We can simply analyze and describe play and rituals, and what they communicate, in a better way. For example, what happens if you look at a debate in parliament as a game?

Read more about Adventures in the Play-Ritual Continuum at UBC Press.