Carnal hermeneutics and the digital game

Martin, Paul

Abstract

Carnal hermeneutics claims that the body makes sense of the world by making distinctions and evaluating those distinctions in a non-predicative mode. This article makes the case that ludohermeneutics can be enriched by attending to the way in which the body makes sense of digital games and advances carnal hermeneutics as a way of theorising this process. The article introduces carnal hermeneutics, argues for its relevance to ludo-hermeneutics, and outlines three examples of how carnal hermeneutics can be used to theorise sense-making in digital games. The first example demonstrates the capacity for touch-screen games to put us in a new relationship with the image. The second example shows how generic control schemas can take on new meanings in different games. The third example shows how marketing of game controllers draws on conventional attitudes to touch to make digital game touch meaningful.

Citation

Martin, P. (in press). Carnal hermeneutics and the digital game. https://doi.org/10.5617/jpg.2934

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 30, 2018
• Online Publication Date: May 14, 2018
• Deposit Date: May 23, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: May 23, 2018
• Journal: Journal of the Philosophy of Games
• Electronic ISSN: 2535-4388
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5617/jpg.2934
• Keywords: carnal hermeneutics, interpretation, Merleau-Ponty, embodiment, close reading, phenomenology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/932218
• Publisher URL: https://www.journals.uio.no/index.php/JPG/article/view/2934