Topic: Fine Art #7: Chris Lehrich's "Ritual Discourse"
Started by: Jonathan Walton
Started on: 4/22/2004
Board: RPG Theory
On 4/22/2004 at 6:09pm, Jonathan Walton wrote:
Fine Art #7: Chris Lehrich's "Ritual Discourse"
Hey Folks,
The newest article in my "Fine Art of Roleplaying" column is finally up, after a two week break.
We decided to abandon the article I was going to talk about previously (because it wasn't very interesting) and instead discuss Chris Lehrich's piece Ritual Discourse in Role-Playing Games (which is). Along the way, I also address the ideological debate between "System Doesn't Matter" and "System Does Matter," so it's a pretty Forge-centric article in general.
http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/fineart22apr04.html
Feel free to respond here or in the forums for the column. I've very interested to hear what people think.
Forge Reference Links:
On 4/23/2004 at 2:24am, Cemendur wrote:
What's Next?
I am not sure where you want to go with this. You ask a very broad question.
I will nod my head and say me too. Then humbly offer my thoughts which are suggestions for what's next.
RPGs as Ritual
RPG (esp. Step on Up) as a form of "deep play" (Compare with Balinese cockfighting, halloween, and masquerades).
RPG (esp. some forms of "immersion") as "meditative rites" - compare with possession, conversion, trance, and "spirit possession"
RPG, "play theory" (childhood psychology), and the anthropology of childhood role-playing.
RPG and the "sacred clown", or RPGs as "Rites of Inversion".
RPG as "ritual drama"- pageantry, experimental and entertainment rites.
RPG as pilgrimage - specifically quests.
And for further thought, but not as convincing:
Purification rites - fasts, pollution, taboos, sin, confession
Exchange rituals - hunt, agricultural food offerings, potlatch
Magical rites - fertility, divination, sorcery, oracles (RPGs as the "invocation" of fantasy. Compare with the Surrealist movement and its invocation of Surreality- Perhaps summoning the character from surreality. Alternatively, manifesting the character in fantasy.)
Healing rites - shamanic rites, entheogenic rites, exorcism, therapy, dream rites. (Compare with RPGs as "psychodrama", "play therapy" and "ritual therapy")
On 4/23/2004 at 9:06am, contracycle wrote:
RE: Fine Art #7: Chris Lehrich's "Ritual Discourse"
There is also precedent for games creating overtly sacred space, such as possible interpretattions of the meso-american ball agem. In the vbroader sense, a lot of reitualised human interactions can probably be classified as games quite easily.