Culture Within Play And Play Within Culture

The interaction between play as a unique phenomenon and culture is one of the controversial issues in Interdisciplinary Sciences. Two broad perspectives, biological and cultural views, have discussed play as an inherent universal aspect of human being or as a socially situated cultural activity. In addition to biological notion, the cultural aspects of play are strong enough to deduce that play is a social and cultural ‘pathway’ for socialization. Language, values, moral virtues, power, individualistic and collectivistic believes, autonomy, and a sense of community, as cultural components, can be conveyed through this pathway from one generation to newer generation. A simple analysis of the content of new e-gaming has revealed that action, power, speed, aggression, imagination, feminism, masculinism, and terror are just some of cultural concepts that convey through this pathway and form the way of children’s socialization. The present paper was focused on the relationship between these cultural components and play. This purpose was followed through the following topics: first, culture and its characteristics, and then cultural and social aspects of play (culture within play or play within culture). These topics were discussed based on current findings in social and cultural studies.