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Defamiliarization minimalist artists6/21/2023 ![]() The latter interpretation is often seen as having some similarity to Brecht's (1957) concept of Verfremdung or V-effect. It is unclear whether Shklovsky intended the term to refer to "a play of form for the sake of renewing form", or "a context-oriented notion that sees a de-habituation of readers' and spectators' relations to the world as its main task" (Pötzsch, 2019, p. In addition to questions relating to the translation of the term, there has also been much debate about how exactly to interpret the concept of defamiliarization (Pötzsch, 2017, 2019). Although there are many variations on the translation of Shklovsky's term (Berlina, 2015 Pötzsch, 2017), here we use "defamiliarization" for consistency with Mitchell (2016), whose notion of poetic gameplay is the starting point for our current analysis. 4), drawing attention to and encouraging reflection on the form of a work. This results from the "ystematic disturbance of the categorization process makes low-categorized information, as well as rich pre-categorial sensory information, available to consciousness" (Tsur, 1992, p. Shklovsky proposed the notion of defamiliarization to explain the process of undermining expectations so as to slow down perception and "impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known" (1965). Through a series of close readings, we identify and categorize the techniques used in these games to create a sense of defamiliarization (Shklovsky, 1965). To understand how these games work, we look for techniques in games that are analogous to the "literary devices" used in literature. These games are often referred to as "art games" (Bogost, 2011 Sharp, 2015). ![]() By means of this interpretive and affective difficulty (Jagoda, 2018), these games encourage reflection on their form in a manner similar to poetry. Some games are "difficult" in ways not normally associated with games (difficult to know how to play, difficult to know what they mean, difficult to determine whether they are even games in the first place). Keywords: defamiliarization, poetic gameplay, art games, literary devices, close readings Introduction The techniques we identify can provide a foundation for future analysis of the role of defamiliarization in creating meaningful gameplay and can act as inspiration for designers of poetic games. We categorize these techniques in terms of how they defamiliarize player expectations for interaction, gameplay, agency, time, and boundaries. We do this by identifying, through a series of close readings of games that contain poetic effects, a set of "literary devices" that are used in these games to create poetic gameplay. This paper explores the idea of "poetic gameplay": gameplay that is deliberately made strange, or defamiliarized, to create a poetic effect, drawing attention to the form of the work as a way to encourage reflection. ![]() Her research explores the ways in which gameplay is involved in the process of narrative reception, focusing specifically on wordless storytelling in games.Ī Preliminary Categorization of Techniques for Creating Poetic Gameplay by Alex Mitchell, Liting Kway, Tiffany Neo, Yuin Theng Sim Abstract Yuin Theng Sim completed her MA in the Department of Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore. Her other research interests and involvement include storytelling and poetic effects in games and other forms of interactive stories. Her current research revolves around the impact of interactivity on storytelling in comics. Tiffany Neo is a PhD candidate in the Department of Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore. Her research explores how the player, playable character and non-playable character in a storygame can impact the perceived agency that a player feels as these three entities interact. ![]() Liting Kway completed her MA in the Department of Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore. His recent work has explored the role of defamiliarization in gameplay, and motivations for replaying story-focused games. His research investigates various aspects of computer-based art and entertainment, focusing in particular on interactive stories. Alex Mitchell is an assistant professor in the Department of Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore. ![]()
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