Scenes of play in German literature from 1750

Registration closes on 3 September 2026 About this event This two-day conference seeks to bring together academics from across disciplines to discursively engage with the topic of ‘play’ in German-language literary texts from 1750 to the present. Whilst discussions around the nature of play can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle, this workshop is especially interested in the legacy of post-Enlightenment thought in the long nineteenth century and early twentieth century for contemporary ideas of the ludic. From around 1750, during the Enlightenment, play began to be examined as a subject of systematic scholarly inquiry rather than mere distraction from the workplace, or a way of designating leisure pursuits. Thinkers such as Friedrich Schiller emphasised its importance for human developm