Game Paratexts


Lesson 4: Game Paratexts

 

Reading and Playing

Read: Beyond the Camera's Lens and look over GameFAQs.com

Play:

 

Discussion

 

According to Gerard Genette in Paratext: Thresholds of Interpretion:

"More than a boundary or a sealed border, the paratext is, rather, a threshold [...] a zone between text and off-text, a zone not only of transition but also of transaction: a privileged place of pragmatics and a strategy, of an influence on the public, an influence that [. . . ] is at the service of a better reception for the text and a more pertinent reading of it."  (2).

 

For gaming, the paratext is anything that is not within the game, but that influences are ability to read/play the game. The game book explaining how to play, game reviews, game walkthroughs, blog postings about the game, and more. All of these are game paratexts because they can influence the way we play games and the way we mentally image and understand games specifically and in relation to culture more largely.

 

First, more definitions to help define gaming paratexts.

 

Works Cited

Genette, Gerard. Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. Trans. Jane E. Lewin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.