ABSTRACT

Over the past several decades, the concept of critical literacy has been applied to an increasing range of multimodal texts mediated by digital technologies. Expressive forms such as fan-fiction, digital storytelling, and gaming have presented unique opportunities forunderstanding critical literacy practices. Within the more specific field of game studies, a growing body of scholarship demonstrates how issues of ideology, politics, and power are woven into and expressed through the medium of games – whether digital or analog. This paper builds on this tradition by offering a critical analysis of a semiotic resource that digital and analog games share – the designed processes that shape experiences of meaning-making through acts of play. Examining data from a study of teens’ participation in a library-based board game-making workshop, this paper highlights the ways participants engaged in critical literacy practices when asked to address a social issue through game design. The paper draws on techniques of discourse analysis to demonstrate how participants engaged with ideological dimensions of procedural literacy through design-centered discourse. Findings suggest that viewing game-making through the lens of procedurality can be a generative way to explore critical literacy practices in relation to contemporary social issues.

摘要

在过去的几十年里，批判性素养的概念已被应用于越来越多以数字技术为媒介的多模态文本。同人小说、数字叙事和游戏等表达形式为理解批判性读写实践提供了独特的机会。在更具体的游戏研究领域，越来越多的学术研究展示了意识形态、政治和权力问题是如何通过游戏媒介（无论是数字还是模拟）交织和表达的。本文以这一传统为基础，对数字和模拟游戏共享的符号资源——设计过程进行了批判性分析通过游戏行为塑造意义创造的体验。通过检查青少年参与基于图书馆的棋盘游戏制作研讨会的研究数据，本文重点介绍了参与者在被要求通过游戏设计解决社会问题时参与批判性识字实践的方式。本文利用话语分析技术来展示参与者如何通过以设计为中心的话语参与程序素养的意识形态维度。研究结果表明，通过程序性的视角来看待游戏制作可以成为探索与当代社会问题相关的批判性读写实践的一种生成方式。