Circle of cords, circle of play

Abstract

A child, interacting with an educator, in a playroom for children with difficulties, is playing with cords. He moves them, arranges them in a circle. He enters the circle, and introduces a balloon; the educator suggests various interactions to him: enter the circle with him, share another, pass the balloon back and forth, undo and remake the circles, make the circles concentric, etc. The sequence is analyzable as a narrative structure and modal, over successive trials that are ordered in an almost canonical fashion. But the canonical sequence does not reveal the “meaning” of this ordering. To get at this, it is necessary to go back to the details of the vocal and physical expressions, the elemental predications that they manifest and the entirety of the interaction, including the acceptances and rejections made by the child, elucidating thus: he systematically defines, assumes and defends a particular enunciative space, imposing on this one singular mode of interaction, on the basis of which he refuses all other propositions.

Key words: interaction, narrative structure, space.