Brian Sutton-Smith

Who is Brian Sutton-Smith?

Brian Sutton-Smith is a play theorist who has spent his lifetime attempting to discover the cultural significance of play in human life, arguing that any useful definition of play must apply to both adults and children. He demonstrates that children are not innocent in their play and that adults are indeed guilty in theirs. In both cases play pretends to assist them in surmounting their Darwinian struggles for survival. His forthcoming book is entitled Play As Emotional Survival, which is a response to his own deconstruction of play theories in his work, The Ambiguity of Play.

Sutton-Smith's interdisciplinary approach has included research into play history and cross cultural studies of play, as well as research in psychology, education, and folklore. He has maintained that the interpretation of play must involve all of its forms, from child's play to gambling, sports, festivals, imagination, and nonsense.