Listening for a Leisure Remix

Abstract

The traditional historical meta-narratives around leisure have focused on one Greek concept, ΣXOΛH, translated as schole and connected to the Latin (licentia) and English words. Direct lines were drawn from an interpretation of this Greek word in particular contexts to the current privileged leisure ideal first in Europe and the United Kingdom and then in North America. The complex history of the ancient Mediterranean world and the continuing histories of “leisures” in Europe and the United Kingdom not to mention other parts of the world were left invisible. As a performance of scholarship in leisure, we use a jazz, rap, and hip hop musical metaphorical strategy and draw upon scholarship from other disciplines to sound out the partiality of the historical meta-narrative of leisure and its resultant effects within current leisure scholarship and practices. Furthermore, we add historiographically to a redescription of the histories of leisure and imaginatively contribute to remixes of theories about leisures.

Keywords:

We want to acknowledge our indebtedness to and dependence upon the scholarship of Barrett, Berliner, Dixson, Lashua, and J.Z. Smith. In addition, Dr. W. Braun from the University of Alberta has provided invaluable inspiration, guidance, and productive questioning. We are grateful for the excellent support and editing of the editors, Henderson and Bialeschki.

Notes

¹ Wittgenstein (1953) illustrated a polythetic approach through “game.” He described a wide variety of activities in how people use the word but notes that no single feature is common to all games. He used the concept of resemblances among different types if no single feature is common to the examples.

²Exceptions to this generalization about histories of leisure include the works of Auguet (1994), Balsdon (2002), Cross (1990, 1998), Hunnicutt (1990, 1996), Potter and Mattingly (1999), and Toner (1995). The work of Cross and Hunnicutt is recent history (after 1500 C.E.) and the rest focused specifically on ancient Rome.

³The phrase “always already” derives from Gadamer (1977), Heidegger (1996), and Derrida (1981). The phrase contests the meta-narratives around origins and challenges genealogical frameworks. That is humans are always already interpreting the world according to the already existing opinions, standards, expectations, discourse, and categories. These can be upset and reorganized when new events confront them, but only when one encounters an upset or “surprise” that leads to fresh judgments (Foshay, 1998).

⁴ Cahill (2003) and Perrotet (2003) range in their use of primary sources. Therefore, they must be used cautiously, reflexively, and critically. However, their interpretations and playing with ideas across cultures and historical eras provides interesting, provocative, and productive insights and questions for the leisure scholar.

⁵The history of Judaism and its relationship with other religious practices is highly contested. In addition, the interrelationship of paganism, Judaism, and Christianity engenders heated scholarly debate and affects numerous topics (Ascough, 1998; J. Z. Smith, 2003).

⁶The philosophers are also associated with Athenian democracy as opposed to Sparta who was ruled by its gerousia, or a council of older men. The tension between philosophy, politics, and military conflicts between Sparta and Athens provides a broader panorama context for competing understandings of humans, nature, leisure, and the cosmos.