Technocultural changes in the act of reading: theme and horizon in Kentucky Route Zero
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/1678-2054.2023vol43n1p55Keywords:
Aesthetic response theory, Game studies, Videogames, Kentucky Route ZeroAbstract
This research paper explores the aesthetic response of players towards videogames, drawing from the theoretical framework of literary theory. It offers an analysis of the game Kentucky Route Zero (Cardboard Computer, 2020) as an exemplar. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, we integrate Wolfgang Iser's (1996, 1999) response theory into the field of game studies. Our central objective is to address the following question: How do players engage in the process of meaning-production within a medium that actively invites their direct intervention in the materialization of the artwork through their agency? Informed by Murray (2003) and Juul (2019), we propose an adaptation of Iser's response theory to the realm of videogames. Subsequently, we test the applicability of this framework through a detailed analysis of a specific game. The findings suggest the emergence of a novel technocultural configuration of reception and interpretation. Firstly, the player's choices actively shape the textual materiality of the game. Secondly, even decisions not made by the player are integrated into the thematic and structural fabric of the artwork. Such unmade choices hold significance in the meaning-production process, comparable to the decisions that are effectively chosen by the player.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Natalia Corbello, Liliam Cristina Marins
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