O que (não) é um rpg: polêmica e produção de sentidos em discursos sobre o role playing game

Abstract

The object of this work is to characterize modes of subjectivity production that go through the speech present in role playing games, known as RPG, constituted mainly in the controversy of the opposition between different voices, focusing the analysis on texts from Dragão Brasil magazine, a national publication specialized in the game. In order to do that, we try to identify, in the extent of this debate, possible voices which attack or defend the RPG, and their association to certain discursive formation (MAINGUENEAU, 1997), set up by the controversy of the opposition. Our theory is based on Discourse Analysis of enunciating basis and we followed the concept of polyphony invented by Bakhtin (2000) and the studies of Ducrot (1987), on his sketch of a polyphonic theory, and the primacy of interdiscourse (MAINGUENEAU, 2005). The understanding of these voices is possible through the awareness of the concept of polemic negation (DUCROT, 1987), seen as a marked form of shown heterogeneity (AUTHIER-REVUZ, 1998). In a discursive level, polemic negation allows us to identify two different voices that stage an antagonistic opposition of positioning related to a certain theme, in our research, the RPG. We still consider the concepts of speech genre (BAKHTIN, 2000), discursive scenography and ethos (MAINGUENEAU, 2002). Our corpus is formed by articles entitled Guerra ao terror! (War against terror) and O que é RPG (What is RPG), published on Dragão Brasil Magazine numbers 78, 79 and 109. The choice of this magazine to be part of our corpus was based on three criteria: a) that is the oldest and most specialized publication about RPG in the Brazilian editorial market; b) it circulates in national territory; and c) the chosen articles talk directly about the game, in an attempt to explain it to the readers. When we observe the article text, we notice a great number of utterance that show negation with polemic traces. From the analysis of these utterance linguistically marked with no , we identify underlying affirmative points of view. Gathering these utterances has allowed us to get to groups of beliefs about RPG, supported by enunciators who speak in the name of religious and moral discourses. We identify voices which relate RPG to sect practices, trying to establish a narrow connection between the game and religion; others include the game into a group of practices which could influence the players leading them to present behavior out of social standards such as violent behavior