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From Counter-Strike to Counter-Statement : using Burke's pentad as a tool for analysing video games

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 22; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14626268.2011.578577

1744-3806

Jeroen Bourgonjon, Kris Rutten, Ronald Soetaert, Martin Valcke,

Educational Games and Gamification

Abstract As video games increasingly become an important frame of reference and as they are more and more taken seriously in education and research, there is a growing need for a methodological tool for video game analysis. In this paper, rhetorical theory in general and pentadic analysis in particular are introduced as useful means to stimulate a critical approach to video games. A case study is presented in which a popular video game (Bioshock) is analysed using this rhetorical approach. It is argued that pentadic analysis can overcome a number of binary discussions within the contemporary field of video game criticism, thus offering interesting perspectives for research and education (e.g. as a reflection tool). Keywords: game studiesdramatismnew rhetoricprocedural rhetoricmedia literacy Acknowledgements This study was supported by the Ghent University BOF Research Grant B/09640/02, as well as the FWO (Research Foundation Flanders). The authors also want to express their gratitude towards Prof. Dr Andrew Stables, Prof. Dr Ian Bogost, and to the expert panel at the Games Research Methods seminar 2010 (Tampere, Finland) for their insightful comments on the preliminary versions of this research article. Of course, all mistakes are ours.