The world according to Playmobil

Van Leeuwen, T

The world according to Playmobil

Van Leeuwen, T

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Semiotica, 2009, 2009 (173), pp. 299 - 315
Issue Date:: 2009-02-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Van Leeuwen, T https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2163-8700	en_US
dc.date.issued	2009-02-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Semiotica, 2009, 2009 (173), pp. 299 - 315	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0037-1998	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/12609
dc.description.abstract	This article looks at toys for very small children, an object of study that has been pursued in psychoanalysis (by Freud and Erikson, for example), but all too infrequently in semiotics. Specifically, it analyzes the social roles and identities called into play by the highly successful Playmobil figurines. In the Hallidayan tradition, the investigation foregrounds the importance of roles and actors in semiosis, paying close attention to roles/actors that are excluded as well as those that are included. As the essay argues, semiotic systems are always a mixture of affordance and constraint. Playmobil (in contrast to Lego, for example) is shown to be stronger on constraints than affordances, however. As a global brand and genre, the figures of Playmobil have the potential to influence nascent perceptions of the way that social actors operate. © 2009 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Semiotica	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1515/SEMI.2009.013	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Languages & Linguistics	en_US
dc.title	The world according to Playmobil	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	173	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	2009	en_US
utslib.for	2004 Linguistics	en_US
utslib.for	2203 Philosophy	en_US
dc.location.activity	ISI:000264772900013	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/School of Education
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - STEM Education Futures
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	173	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	2009	en_US

Abstract:

This article looks at toys for very small children, an object of study that has been pursued in psychoanalysis (by Freud and Erikson, for example), but all too infrequently in semiotics. Specifically, it analyzes the social roles and identities called into play by the highly successful Playmobil figurines. In the Hallidayan tradition, the investigation foregrounds the importance of roles and actors in semiosis, paying close attention to roles/actors that are excluded as well as those that are included. As the essay argues, semiotic systems are always a mixture of affordance and constraint. Playmobil (in contrast to Lego, for example) is shown to be stronger on constraints than affordances, however. As a global brand and genre, the figures of Playmobil have the potential to influence nascent perceptions of the way that social actors operate. © 2009 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/12609