Proposta de um paradigma de análise da leitura do game Undertale em perspectiva psicolinguístico-ludológica

Abstract

This Master's dissertation aims to contribute to studies on the interface between Psycholinguistics and Ludology, by estabilishing a reading analysis paradigm for the game Undertale, based on concepts from both areas. For this, Psycholinguistics concepts related to reading were considered, such as cognitive processing (SOLÉ, 1996; PEREIRA, 2012; STANOVICH, 1984), reading comprehension (SMITH, 2003; GIASSON, 2000) and reading strategies (KLEIMAN, 1993; SMITH, 2003; KATO, 1987), focusing on inference and predicting (GOODMAN, 1976; PEREIRA, 2012; KINTSCH, VAN DIJK, 1978). In relation to Ludology, concepts about the structure of games were used, such as immateriality and the magic circle (HUIZINGA, 2004), players, rules, objectives and results (SALEN, ZIMMERMAN, 2004; JUUL, 2003; FULLERTON, 2014), in addition to the characteristics of the games in the RPG and Adventure genres (PRENSKY, 2007; WOLF, 2010; JU, WAGNER 1997; HITCHENS, DRACHEN, 2009; ADAMS, 2014). Through the relationship between these theoretical concepts, an analysis paradigm in the form of a schema was elaborated, together with a script to be applied to the first map of the Undertale game, in order to present its application potential. Separated into events, each happening was transcribed and analyzed considering the theoretical concepts presented. After applying the script, the analysis was organized to answer the research questions. It was observed that the game enabled the use of inference and predicting reading strategies through the presence of linguistic clues in most of the events. In addition, the predominance of injunctive text was observed, especially in dialogues and puzzles, while the expository text was predominant, mainly, in fights. It was also observed that the narrative text was present in most of the events, contributing to the game’s story. Regarding the ludological characteristics of Undertale, there was a great presence of clues for solving problems, as well as possibilities for role-playing and emotional connection, as well as development in the game's history. Thus, the possibilities of the paradigm were recognized in relation to its conditions for analyzing the reading of the chosen game.