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2Litera
Reference:
Shcherbakova M.V., Komlev N.P. Media linguistic features of the tabletop role-playing game text // Litera. 2024. № 3. DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2024.3.70142 EDN: JBEWLZ URL: https://en.nbpublish.com'library_read_article.p^?id=70142
Media linguistic features of the tabletop role-playing game text
Shcherbakova Milena Viktorovna
Lecturer, Department of the Russian Language № 5, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after
Patrice Lumumba
117198, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Mklukho-Maklaya str., 6 El milena_scherbakova@mail.ru
Komlev Mkita Pavlovich
Student, Department of the Russian Language №5, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after
Patrice Lumumba
117198, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Mklukho-Maklaya str., 6
El npk001@mail.ru
Article was published in rubric "Linguistics"
DOI:
10.25136/2409-8698.2024.3.70142
EDN:
JBEWLZ
Received:
16-03-2024
Abstract: The subject of the study is the media linguistic features of the text of a tabletop role-playing game (TRPG). The purpose of the work is to identify the essential features of the media text and answer the question: can media accompaniment of a tabletop role-playing game be considered a media text? Despite the sufficient elaboration of the topic of media communications on the Internet, the research material is a little-studied phenomenon. The research material is transcripts of sessions of the board RPG "Dungeons & Dragons" from fragments of the TV show "Critical Role" on streaming platforms. The study examined the emergence and development of the media text concept, noting a
significant expansion of this term semantics in the context of media globalization. Further, the typological properties of the media text as an object of linguistic media research were systematized and the text of the TRPG was analyzed for compliance with existing criteria. The article used descriptive and comparative methods; a statistical method to assess the popularity of the TRPG. When working with the transcript of the game, Python programming methods were implemented: to increase clarity and create a correct text transcription. As a result, conclusions were drawn about the presence of such media linguistic features in the media accompaniment of TRPG as collective authorship, hypertextuality, interactivity and etc., which constituted the scientific novelty of the study. Comparative analysis by criteria allowed us to trace qualitative changes in the typology of media texts. In addition, the expediency of expanding the terminological apparatus of media linguistics was emphasized, which correlates with the study of transmedia narration. The results of the observations can be applied to improve the text-generation that accompanies the gameplay, and can also be used to conduct similar studies based on the speech material of TRPGs.
Keywords:
media text, media linguistics, tabletop role-playing game, author's category, hypertextuality, transmedia, genre, format, Dungeons and Dragons, streaming
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Peer Review
Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential. The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.
The concept of "text" in modern conditions of the development of scientific thought is blurred, which is quite logical, because the connection of adjacent levels, in particular, media ones, allows this to be followed. Quite a lot of work has been devoted to the study of the media linguistic features of the text, however, the dialogue continues, and in a structurally adjusted rhythm. The reviewed article is not devoid of such variations; I believe that the subject of the study is specific, accurate, and the base of the analysis - "board role-playing games" - gives the work novelty and relevance. The author notes that "the text of a tabletop role-playing game can be classified as media texts, which is proved by the correspondence of the main essential features of the studied phenomena. Media texts include different forms of communication and different channels of information transmission, combining verbal and non-verbal; auditory and visual elements. The text of the role-playing game is full of descriptions of the world, characters, dialogues and rules -all of the above are the main game components, for the effective implementation of which a special, syncretic, "creolized" expression is required." Most likely, we can agree with this observation, since the situation, the type of contact, and the target component are taken into account. The material submitted for publication is quite dense in the data submission mode, informative, and informative. The researcher does not split the text into fragments, which may be correct, the integral type of analysis is a paradigm of fluctuations of different points of view on the "media text": "first appeared in foreign literature in the second half of the 20th century, the term "media text" has been actively functioning in the modern scientific community for the last three decades. A significant contribution to the study of the phenomenon of media text was made by T. G. Dobrosklonskaya, S. I. Smetanina, S. I. Bernstein, D. N. Shmelev, V. G. Kostomarov and G. Ya. Solganik, whose works can deservedly be considered a pioneer", "being one of the main media linguistic categories, media text receives different definitions, and time shows that the most successfulThey turn
out to be the most "broad" definitions. In 1987, L. M. Maidanova managed to identify some features of the media text that are relevant to this day. Among them are "polyadressiveness" or "polyadressiveness", social orientation, polyfunctionality with an orientation towards informational impact, and most importantly, the properties of condensability (that is, folding to a short text) and situationality (attitude to the situation)," etc. There are quite a lot of references and citations in the article, it is good that the primary sources are taken as a basis, they determine the reliability of observations. The research methodology is traditional, the comparative principle, the principle of system analytics is not excluded, and the so-called statistical formation has been introduced, which objectifies the dynamics of interest in "tabletop role-playing games", as well as "the study of media text, which is panoramic for this type of entertainment." The style of work is focused on the scientific type, the main range of concepts is unified: for example, "the introduction of the lexeme "mediatext" was necessary for a number of reasons: not only to build the terminological apparatus of a relatively new scientific branch — media linguistics, but also to avoid logical confusion. The phenomenon, which is laconically designated nowadays, should have "crystallized", received objective grounds for existence and for its own name, partly borrowed from the English language,"or "it must be recognized that at this stage, in connection with the expansion of media communication capabilities, the concept of media text is also expanding. Moreover, the mandatory presence of such a characteristic as format emphasizes the dependence of the media text phenomenon on extralinguistic factors: a new format for broadcasting text messages has appeared - the media text content of network text resources has expanded," or "many stream videos even have a transcript - a text transcript generated automatically using a speech recognition system. The heterogeneity in this industry is interesting, probably due to viewer preferences: nowadays, some streams are already switching to the show format, others defiantly deny time or plot limitations, others support multiformatting," etc. The analyzed data are open by definition, which is good: "the rapid growth in popularity of the role-playing movement in the CIS countries occurred due to the development of mass media. In the early 2010s, tabletop role-playing games remained a niche hobby, but since 2020, projects such as "Chicken Curry Dungeons" (shows on the Youtube platform), "Adventures are Coming", "Sneaky Dice" (channels on the Youtube platform) demonstrate the following indicators: 1) each issue of "Chicken Curry Dungeons" collects an average of 3.3 million views (23 issues in total); 2) the Adventures Are Coming channel has gained 120 thousand subscribers since April 2021; 3) the Sneaky Dice channel has gained 75.5 thousand subscribers since April 2021 (data from the Youtube platform channels)". The analysis of the work is reduced to a full-fledged, integral block; I think that the argumentation is quite enough. References to information resources are relevant: "according to the results of a survey of the organizers of the largest NRI spaces "DANJ" and "Gate of Heroes", with the release of domestic game broadcasts on popular streaming platforms, the number of players in Moscow has increased 3 times over the past 3 years (sources: Interactive Adventure Theater "Gate of Heroes": official website. - Moscow, 2024. URL: https://heroesgate.ru / date of application: 02/22/2024. The club of tabletop role-playing games "Danj": the official website. - Moscow, 2024. URL: danj.RF date of application: 02/22/2024)". I think that a number of positions that are indicated in the article can be deciphered / disclosed in thematically related studies. For example, "mass media texts, despite the apparent impossibility of reducing them to a single vector, still have common features, V.G. Kostomarov argued: "They are all equally unpredictable in content and equally designed for an unpredictable mass audience, contact with which is technically mediated." The inability to predict the development of events is one of the main impulses that draw a person into the world of NRI and offer to realize any fantasies. The
embodiment is achieved through modern technologies and even innovative neural network resources, which further stimulates the interest and involvement of players with a constant fluctuation between the game and the real, real and unreal, and such a fluctuation is characteristic of the metamodern culture." The main topic of the work has been disclosed, the set vector of tasks has been solved; the material has both practical and theoretical significance. The list of sources is extensive, the main requirements of the publication are taken into account. I recommend the article "Media linguistic features of the text of a tabletop role-playing game" for open publication in the magazine "Litera".
