Getting a Life: Homo Ludens as Postmodern Identity

Abstract

The traditional markers of social identity -particularly occupation -lose much of their potency in postmodern times, which are characterized by diversity, fragmentation, discontinuity, and paradox. Many people in the industrialized West have benefited from technology, yet their jobs and day-to-day lives have been reduced to sedentary, boring routines, largely devoid of excitement, challenge, and personal growth. In consequence, they are beginning to replace homo faberwith homo ludensas the characterization from which to draw their social identities and self-enhancement needs, an inflection which has significant consequences for the leisure and tourism industry.

Key Words:

• Homo ludens
• postmodernism
• postmodern tourism