Roger Caillois facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Roger Caillois
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 3 March 1913 Reims, France |
| Died | 21 December 1978 (aged 65) Paris, France |
| Occupation | Sociologist, ludologist |
| Notable awards | Grand Prix de Littérature Policière; Marcel Proust Awards; European Union Prize for Literature |
Roger Caillois (born March 3, 1913 – died December 21, 1978) was a French thinker. He combined ideas from literary criticism, sociology (the study of society), ludology (the study of games), and philosophy (the study of knowledge and existence).
Caillois explored many different topics, like games and play, as well as the idea of the sacred (things considered holy or special). He also helped introduce many famous writers from Latin America, such as Jorge Luis Borges and Pablo Neruda, to people in France. After he passed away, a French literary award, the Prix Roger Caillois, was named in his honor in 1991.
Contents
Roger Caillois: His Life Story
Roger Caillois was born in Reims, France. When he was a child, his family moved to Paris. He attended a special school there called Lycée Louis-le-Grand. This school helped students prepare for tough exams to get into France's best universities.
Caillois worked hard and got into the École Normale Supérieure in 1933. This was a very respected achievement. Later, he studied at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. There, he met important thinkers like Georges Dumézil and Marcel Mauss.
Fighting for What's Right
Before World War II, Caillois became very involved in politics. He strongly opposed fascism, which was a harsh political system. He also joined the exciting intellectual scene in Paris.
With Georges Bataille, he started a group called the College of Sociology. This group of thinkers gave talks to each other regularly. They wanted to explore the power of rituals and community life. This was different from another popular art movement called Surrealism, which focused more on individual dreams. Caillois's interest in anthropology (the study of human societies) and the sacred fit well with this new approach.
Life During and After the War
In 1939, Caillois left France and went to Argentina. He stayed there until World War II ended. During the war, he actively fought against the spread of Nazism in Latin America. He wrote and edited anti-Nazi newspapers.
After the war, in 1948, he began working with UNESCO (the United Nations organization for education, science, and culture). This job allowed him to travel widely around the world. In 1971, he was chosen to be a member of the Académie française, a very important French institution that protects the French language.
Caillois passed away in 1978 at the age of 65.
His Lasting Contributions
Today, Roger Caillois is remembered for two main things. First, he started and edited a journal called Diogenes. This journal covered many different subjects and was supported by UNESCO.
Second, he created a collection of books called La Croix du Sud (Southern Cross). These books, published by Gallimard, translated works by modern Latin American authors. Thanks to him, writers like Jorge Luis Borges and Alejo Carpentier became known to French readers.
He is also widely known for his book Les Jeux et les Hommes (1958), which means Man, Play and Games. This book is very important in the field of ludology, which is the study of games.
Roger Caillois's Ideas on Play
Caillois built on the ideas of Johan Huizinga, a Dutch historian. Huizinga wrote a book called Homo Ludens (1938), which discussed how important play is in culture and society. Huizinga believed that play helps create culture.
Caillois started his own book, Man, Play and Games (1961), by using Huizinga's definition of play. Huizinga said that play is a free activity. It's not serious, but it completely involves the player. Play doesn't aim for money or profit. It happens within its own time and space, following rules, and in an orderly way. It also helps groups form, who often keep their activities secret.
Six Key Features of Play
Caillois thought Huizinga focused too much on competition in play. He also found it hard to define play perfectly. So, he described play using six main features:
- 1. It is free: You choose to play; it's not something you have to do.
- 2. It is separate: Play happens in its own special time and place, away from daily life.
- 3. It is uncertain: You can't know the outcome beforehand, and your actions matter.
- 4. It is unproductive: Play doesn't create wealth or new things. It ends as it began, economically speaking.
- 5. It has rules: Play follows specific rules that are different from everyday laws. Players must follow these rules.
- 6. It involves imagined realities: Play often creates a pretend world that is different from real life.
Even Caillois's definition has been discussed by other thinkers. The meaning of "play" is still something people talk about.
Four Types of Games
Caillois divided games into four main categories:
- Agon (Competition): These games test a player's skills, like strength, intelligence, or memory. The winner is the one who shows the best mastery of that skill. For example, chess is a game of competition and strategy.
- Alea (Chance): This is the opposite of Agon. In Alea games, you give up control to luck or fate. An outside force decides who wins. Playing a slot machine is an example of a game of chance.
- Mimicry (Role-playing): In these games, players pretend to be someone or something else. They try to make themselves or others believe they are different. Playing an online role-playing game is a good example.
- Ilinx (Vertigo): This type of play involves changing your perception by experiencing strong feelings like excitement or dizziness. The stronger the feeling, the more fun it is. Riding roller coasters or children spinning until they fall down are examples of Ilinx.
These categories can often be mixed. For instance, poker combines Agon (bluffing skills) and Alea (the luck of the cards).
Two Ways of Playing
Caillois also described two different ways games can be played:
- Paidia: This is uncontrolled, spontaneous play. It's about improvisation, where rules are made up as you go along. Think of concerts or festivals where people freely express themselves.
- Ludus: This type of play requires effort, patience, and skill. The rules are set from the beginning, and the game is designed before you start playing. The Chinese game of Go is an example of Ludus.
Gambling: A True Game?
Caillois disagreed with Huizinga about gambling. Huizinga believed that risking money or life ruined the "freedom of pure play." He thought gambling was "serious business" and harmful to society.
Caillois argued that gambling is a true game. He saw it as a mix of skill (Agon) and chance (Alea). He believed that as long as a game creates social activity and a winner's triumph, it can be a form of Agon or Alea, even if money is involved. For Caillois, gambling is like a fair fight where everyone has an equal chance, making the winner's success clear and undeniable.
Caillois's Interest in Mimicry
When Caillois worked with Bataille at the College of Sociology, they wrote two essays about insects in the 1930s. These essays explored how insects like the praying mantis and other mimicking animals act like "nature's robots" or "disguises."
These writings suggested that there could be intelligence without deep thought, creativity without art, and action without a human doing it.
Roger Caillois French Literary Prize
The Roger Caillois French Literary Prize for Latin American Literature was created in 1991. It has been given to many famous writers, including Carlos Fuentes and José Donoso.
See also
In Spanish: Roger Caillois para niños
