Evolution of Reading: The Case of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’, a fantasy tabletop role-playing game

Auteurs

  • Francesca Orestano University of Milan, Italy

Mots-clés :

livre dont vous êtes le héros, Donjons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons, crossover literature, branching-path books, interactivité, interactivity, jeu de rôle, role-playing, textuel et visuel

Résumé

L’article interroge le concept d'évolution appliqué aux compétences de lecture et à l’histoire du livre. D’une enquête sur la littérature hybride, les textes visuels et l’intermédialité, il passe à l’analyse des schémas caractérisant la littérature interactive (livres dont vous êtes le héros), les aventures solitaires et les jeux de rôle. L’exemple concret est un célèbre jeu célèbre des années soixante-dix Donjons & Dragons. Le livre des règles de D&D est analysé en prêtant attention aux aspects qui soutiennent l’activité ludique mais aussi aux éléments littéraires ancrés dans le jeu. Les deux suggèrent une relation mutuelle complexe et le potentiel narratif du jeu.

 

The article questions the concept of evolution in relation to the ability of reading, and the history of books. From a survey of cross-over literature, visual texts, and intermediality, it moves into analyzing the patterns that characterize branching-path books, solitaire adventures, and role-playing games. The case in point is a famous game of the Seventies, Dungeons & Dragons. The Rule Book of Dungeons & Dragons is analyzed, paying attention to the features that support the gaming activity, but also to the literary elements embedded in the game. Both suggest a complex mutual relationship and the narrative potential attached to gaming.

Biographie de l'auteur

Francesca Orestano, University of Milan, Italy

Francesca Orestano, Full Professor of English Literature at the University of Milan, is the author of books on John Neal and the American Renaissance (Dal Neoclassico al Classico); on Revd. William Gilpin and landscape aesthetics (Paesaggio e finzione); on the picturesque, visual culture, and XIX century literature (La parola e lo sguardo). She has edited with M. Hollington Dickens and Italy; with N. Lennartz New Bearings in Dickens Criticism; has written on Dickens, Virginia Woolf, John Ruskin’s aesthetics and fin de siècle taste. She edited Not Just Porridge: English Literati at Table (2017) – a gastronomic history of English literature. She has edited three books on books on children’s literature, and many articles, on the visual in children’s texts, American children’s literature, children’s literature and World War One. She has started the website Children’s literature in Italy. Her essay on Little Dorrit is in the recent Oxford Handbook of Charles Dickens (2018), and her essay on literature and chemistry is in Cahiers Victoriens et Édouardiens.

She edited Not Just Porridge: English Literati at Table (2017) – a gastronomic history of English literature. She has edited three books on books on children’s literature, and many articles, on the visual in children’s texts, American children’s literature, children’s literature and World War One. She has started the website Children’s literature in Italy. Her essay on Little Dorrit is in the recent Oxford Handbook of Charles Dickens (2018), and her essay on literature and chemistry is in Cahiers Victoriens et Édouardiens.

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Publiée

2019-07-08

Comment citer

Orestano, F. (2019). Evolution of Reading: The Case of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’, a fantasy tabletop role-playing game. Publije, (1). Consulté à l’adresse //revues.univ-lemans.fr/index.php/publije/article/view/126

Numéro

No 1 (2019): Reading & Gaming

Rubrique

PARTIE 1

Licence

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