A idade média em Dungeons & Dragons : como os jogadores interpretam o passado e incorporam a fantasia

Abstract

Since its emergence in 1974 in the US, the Role-Playing Game Dungeons & Dragons has become popular and captivated several audiences in entertainment culture. The practice of the game involves the mobilization of an extensive set of rules, the interpretation of characters and the narration of an adventure that takes place largely in a neomedievalist world where fantasy and medieval transcend their borders and mix in the most varied hues. Several internet spaces allow players to socialize not only the technical details of the game, but also discuss the historical aspects that permeate the narratives and scenarios created by the players and the game producer. In this research, I seek to analyze the ways the game and its players adapt, incorporate, and bend the medieval past in the creative and interpretative practice of the game. To this end, discussions were analyzed among players in dedicated Brazilian D&D groups on Facebook. Fantasy aspects may make it seem that there is no more representation of the Middle Ages in D&D, but even when this argument is brought out among players, certain notions of the Middle Ages are mobilized and articulated by them for or against this characterization. Whether as a repository of themes and information or as an argument for historicity, the limits between what is medieval and what is not are often at stake for players, as well as the way of manipulating this past in the practice of playing D&D