Deconstructing LEGO : The Medium and Messages of LEGO Play

By Jonathan Rey Lee

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3030536645
• ISBN13: 9783030536640
• Release Date: September 2020
• Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
• Length: 281 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.3"