It is the duty of a major university such as Aix-Marseille to contribute to the affirmation of the role of the humanities, the arts and the human and social sciences in national and international scientific research. Its mission is to strengthen their place in the dialogue with society, with citizens, with young people in middle and high schools. These disciplines are nowadays crucial to enlighten and nurture the growing need for knowledge in our daily lives.
With more than 500 research professors and 300 doctoral students in the humanities, our university is launching in 2019 the first edition of an International Festival of Arts and Sciences of Society, which aims to be a forum for exchanges between academics and students in these academic disciplines, artists and the general public.
This festival is conducted in partnership with national and regional institutional actors, cultural and media. Its international dimension is due to Aix Marseille University's desire to build a European university, with a Mediterranean roots that builds its identity.
The Festival du Jeu de l'oie accompanies the visibility and civic and cultural influence of the humanities, arts and human sciences with the greatest respect for interdisciplinarity and the collective spirit. Innovative in the region through its scientific scope, in touch with current events, it is committed to serving the youngest and focusing on the future.
"Man only plays where in the full acceptance of this term he is man, and he is quite man only where he plays" Letters on the aesthetic education of man by Friedrich Schiller (1795)
Why the Goose Game?
Several testimonies place the appearance of the goose game in Florence under the reign of Grand Duke François de Médicis (1574-1587). A game of courses where counters are moved according to the results of two dice, the game of the goose includes 63 squares arranged in a spiral rolled inward and including a number of tests - squares 6 (bridge), 19 (inn), 31 (well), 42 (labyrinth), 52 (prison) and 58 (death) -. The game of the goose leaves no initiative to the players: chance reigns supreme since dice and accidents determine the course of the pieces and its rules lend themselves to multiple metaphors. Its spiral shape reminds us of the labyrinth to go through to get to know ourselves and others. Repeatedly reproduced and adapted to the events of history, this game belongs to a shared heritage. This festival, committed to understanding the social game and the world, refers to it as a new metamorphosis.
Two times for a festival
The Goose Game festival is composed of two parts:
- The first day of the competition, from May 9 to June 18, is marked by scientific events, open to the general public, organized by the laboratories of Aix-Marseille University and the CNRS as well as by the cultural partners. Note: the Festival launch on May 9 will be made by President Yvon Berland at the opening of the 144th Congress of the CTHS at the Musée d'Histoire de Marseille.
- The High Point from June 19 to 22, 2019 around the theme of the Game that has emerged for this inaugural year. It is a time of exchange that includes conferences, round tables, performances and shows, accessible to everyone.
The theme of the game in 2019
The game occupies an essential place in history and cultures. To convince oneself of this, one only has to think of the ancient games - Olympic Games or circus games - or the place of the concept of play in the philosophy of the Enlightenment and the novels of the 19th century. Our contemporary society has drawn its inspiration from it and has consistently given a prominent place to the gaming industries and recreational practices.
Moreover, game theorists have demonstrated that gambling remains an essential dimension of human existence: J. Huizinga, Homo Ludens (1938), R. Caillois, Les jeux et les hommes (1958), D.W. Winnicott, Jeu et réalité, l'espace potentiel (1975), J. Henriot, Sous couleur de jouer (1989), C. Duflo, Le jeu. From Pascal to Schiller (1997), or more recently M. Triclot, Philosophy of video games (2011).
Is our society undergoing a transformation where gambling could be seen as a new form of expression that can mean political, social, individual demands? Under the guise of gaming, aren't we witnessing a real transformation of our society, if we think of the empire of video games or the success of the Game of Thrones series?
The Journey of the High Time
- Wednesday, June 19: What does it mean to play? What does the game involve us in?
- Thursday, June 20: How to understand the game experience and the player's place?
- Friday, June 21: What are the powers of the game and the power games to reinvent the world or try to control it?
- Saturday 22 June: Is sport still a game, between staging, professional careers and social performance?
"Thinking the game" requires a few keys to understand the rules. "Participating in the game" means letting yourself be caught up in something unpredictable. This festival, metaphorically conceived as a board game, thus engages each and every player-citizen that we are to re-shuffle the cards of knowledge and which are part of the future that we want to build.
www.festivaljeudeloie.fr (opening of the site on May 9, 2019)