![]() ![]() The objective is grasping real relations and contradictions hidden in the apparently natural and consensual. ![]() In addition, estrangement may have a political objective. Estrangement reinvigorates perception with the purpose of returning a forgotten essence of things. In essence, estrangement is the result of devices used for drawing attention to cultural expressions and naturalised contradictions by making them strange. However, through its poignant reminders of real world politics in the game, simulated through in-game action, the game may even incite the player to take political action. Indeed, playing as Captain Walker potentially makes the player question genre conventions of FPS-games. At the same time, art can challenge us as readers, spectators and users so that we do not only recognise, but truly see the world around us. The technique that art may use to refresh our senses, then, is by making things difficult to internalise. The function of art is to make us feel something anew, as if we experienced it for the first time. Viktor Shklovsky, a Russian formalist, coined the neologism “ostranenie” (= making strange) to encapsulate what he perceives as the main function of art: to refresh our senses by de-habitualising what convention has turned mundane, thus invisible. The concept of estrangement originates in the work of literary scholars historically known as formalists. To do this, Pötzsch examines the concept of estrangement and how it is relevant for understanding games and play. In his article, “Playing Games with Shklovsky, Brecht, and Boal: Ostranenie, V-Effect, and Spect-Actors as Analytical Tools for Game Studies” Holger Pötzsch sheds some light upon storytelling mechanisms in games like Spec Ops: The Line and how a more systematic approach helps reflect on and understand them. ![]()
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