The role of culture in reading and playing a game

"the role of culture, previous experience and knowledge play in reading and playing a game"


"As J. Clifford described in his article on Ethnographic authority, “recent literary theory suggests that the ability of a text to make sense in a coherent way depends less on the willed intentions of an
originating author than on the creativity of the reader […] One may also read against the
grain of the texts’ dominant voice, seeking out other, half hidden authorities, reinterpreting
the descriptions, texts, and quotations gathered together by the writer”
(Clifford, 2003, 133). Although Clifford was speaking of ethnography, one can see the
parallel in describing gaming experiences through a one authoritative perspective. This
review breaks the norm to make evident the heteroglossia–that characterizes players
uptake of games and their gaming experience."



Assassin’s Creed: A Multi-Cultural Read. p.28-29