Deconstructing Lego: The Medium and Messages of Lego Play (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9783030536640)

This book investigates a paradox of creative yet scripted play--how LEGO invites players to build 'freely' with and within its highly structured, ideologically-laden toy system. First, this book considers theories and methods for deconstructing LEGO as a medium of bricolage, the creative reassembly of already-significant elements. Then, it pieces together readings of numerous LEGO sets, advertisements, videogames, films, and other media that show how LEGO constructs five ideologies of play: construction play, dramatic play, digital play, transmedia play, and attachment play. From suburban traffic patterns to architectural croissants, from feminized mini-doll bodies to toys-to-life stories, from virtual construction to playful fan creations, this book explores how the LEGO medium conveys ideological messages--not by transmitting clear statements but by providing implicit instructions for how to reassemble meanings it had all along.


Author: Jonathan Rey Lee
ISBN-10: 3030536645
ISBN-13: 9783030536640
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Language: English
Published: 09/09/2020
Pages: 281
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.18lbs
Size: 8.27h x 5.83w x 0.75d