Johan Huizinga
Dutch cultural historian whose The Waning of the Middle Ages is a masterpiece of historical evocation and Homo Ludens is the foundational text of play theory. He argued that play is a primary cultural activity underlying art, law, and war. He died in Nazi captivity.
Works
- The Waning of the Middle AgesStudy of late medieval European mentality, art, and culture on cusp of Renaissance
- Homo LudensEssay defining play as primary and necessary condition for generation of culture
- Erasmus and the Age of ReformationBiography of humanist scholar Erasmus and the intellectual ferment of Renaissance
- In the Shadow of TomorrowEssays prophesying the spiritual and cultural crisis of the twentieth century
- Dutch Civilization in the Seventeenth CenturyStudy of Dutch cultural achievements and intellectual life during golden age
- The Autumn of the Middle AgesRevised edition reexamining late medieval European mentality and cultural transition