Children's Symbolic Play With Themes of Fear, Darkness, and the Other

• In Event: Social Semiotic Approaches to Understanding Emotions, Symbolic Play, Languacultural Landscape, Activism, and Abductive Reasoning

Abstract

We report on a year-long qualitative study with seven children, aged 4 to 11 years, focusing on their symbolic play with themes of fear and darkness. The children were observed engaging with virtual sites such as Roblox and Sonic the Hedgehog, and with offline materials, including Legos, dolls, Disney figurines, and art supplies. Analysis of the children’s play revealed how, in varied contexts, they narrated and enacted scenes of the self as omnipotent in overcoming the threatening other, the categorization of the self and other into communities, and the application of non-human elements to characterize the frightening other. This research offers a novel perspective on how symbolic “dark” play can provide insight into children’s constructed meanings of self and other.

Authors

• Sandra Chang-Kredl, Concordia University

• Dan Mamlok, Tel Aviv University

• Vivek Venkatesh, Concordia University - Montreal