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Fantasy and Reality: The Dialectic of Work and Play in Kwara'ae Children's Lives
Author(s) -
WatsonGegeo Karen Ann
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
ethos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.783
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1548-1352
pISSN - 0091-2131
DOI - 10.1525/eth.2001.29.2.138
Subject(s) - fantasy , dialectic , work (physics) , mode (computer interface) , psychology , developmental psychology , aesthetics , sociology , art , epistemology , literature , engineering , computer science , philosophy , mechanical engineering , operating system
In Kwara'cae, as in many Third World and workingclass contexts, young children spend as much, or more, of their time in work as in play. This article examines how fantasy and reality are framed by Kwara'ae children in play and work and children's self‐positionings through child‐mode and adult‐mode styles of embodiment. In adult‐mode performances, children's double description—"This is play" and "This is not play (because it's work)"—sustains them in long periods of work. The epistemological significance of adult and child modes is also considered.