Article on the nature of play in Pinocchio

Based on ecocrtical theory, theories about ‘The Strange Child’, and theories about play and criteria of play as found in Peter Smith’s Children and Play (2009), this article by Nina Goga (page 103-121) aims to examine the nature of play in various illustrations of Pinocchio’s sojourn in The Land of Toys. The article also discusses the representations of play in light of the ambiguous message in the book about the necessity of freedom and, at the same time, the necessity of formation. Since physically active play seems to be the most common kind of game in The Land of Toys, the text, but not always the illustrations, seems to perceive physically active play as a hindrance to the formation process where a physical, controlled, and subordinated body is a basic condition.