Trust, Play, and Intersubjectivity

Abstract

A number of years ago, National Geographic featured an article on animals and play. Among the many wonderful photographs that accompanied the text, I remember one particularly striking series of images. In northern Canada, a sled dog that was restrained by a chain played with a polar bear. As the bear approached, the dog wagged his tail and bowed -the same "let's play" bow dogs everywhere use to indicate their desire to other dogs or to humans. "The bear responded with enthusiastic body language and nonaggressive facial signals" and surprisingly, the animals entered a playful exchange in which the bear did not harm the dog. 1 Certainly, people are also playful creatures and our play takes many forms. The intellectually engaging and emotionally fulfilling back-and-forth of college classroom discussions can feel like a special form of play, one that we desire for ourselves, and our students. And yet, I have encountered "outsider" students who may consider my position in the university or my skin color, and conclude that I am an untrustworthy partner for play. Sara Ahmed reminds us that these students have been "made into strangers": their experiences and perspectives are marginalized in the American university and their bodily presence is often considered unexpected in Eurocentric, white-normed academic spaces. 2 They may well be "too hurt to remain open," 3 and they are not necessarily eager to engage with me. Perhaps they perceive me as a polar bear: to enter a play relationship is potentially quite dangerous. Indeed, María Lugones once hauntingly asked of those in dominant social positions, "why and to what purpose do I trust myself to you … [a game of] cat and mouse just for your entertainment?" 4 Her question directs our attention to the "neocolonial gap" of which Frank Margonis writes. When educators work with students from marginalized and formerly colonized groups, historical wounds complicate the communicative "gap" between them, and teacher/student relations may already be closed. 5 In "Tending Neocolonial Gaps," Margonis presents a compelling vision of how we might enter "intersubjective play" with students to enhance the possibilities for "dynamic teaching and learning." 6 Arguably, his use of the word "play" refers to the "give and take that emerges in a relationship." 7 I am, however, struck by the use of the word. It connotes ease, a sense of lightness, and sometimes, even joy. But what is at stake for the Other, the outsider student, when she risks entering the game? Where are the possibilities for (playful) educational exchanges? To understand how I might invite students wounded by coloniality 8 into intellectual play, I will complement Margonis's ideas with María Lugones's essay on "Playfulness, 'World'-Travelling and Loving Perception." 9 She reverses the colonizing gaze, 10 and articulates a worldview that resonates with many from marginalized and formerly colonized communities.Playfulness and "World"-Travelling Lugones wishes to create openings for "cross-cultural and cross-racial loving"; she ...