2022
Aarseth, Espen; Karhulahti, Veli-Matti
In Search of Characters Without Signifiers Journal Article
In: Narrative, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 268-285 , 2022, ISSN: 1063-3685.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Characters, Game characters, Implied characters, Minimalist characters
@article{Aarseth2022,
title = {In Search of Characters Without Signifiers},
author = {Espen Aarseth and Veli-Matti Karhulahti},
url = {http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202206163427},
doi = {10.1353/nar.2022.0016},
issn = {1063-3685},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-05-25},
urldate = {2022-05-25},
journal = {Narrative},
volume = {30},
number = {2},
pages = {268-285 },
abstract = {This essay explores the question whether characters can exist without being signified in any way. If characters can exist trans-medially, independently of a particular form of signification or sign-vehicle, why not exist without any signification at all? What kind of existence would such a character have? And, paradoxically, what would examples look like? While the question at face value might appear logically invalid, I argue that at (or just beyond) the minimalist end of the character-representational spectrum, we find what might be called implied characters, that is, characters that are not in any way given, represented, named, or performed, but can only exist in the minds of their players during play, as a formal slot without physical, structural, communicational, or mental properties.},
keywords = {Characters, Game characters, Implied characters, Minimalist characters},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This essay explores the question whether characters can exist without being signified in any way. If characters can exist trans-medially, independently of a particular form of signification or sign-vehicle, why not exist without any signification at all? What kind of existence would such a character have? And, paradoxically, what would examples look like? While the question at face value might appear logically invalid, I argue that at (or just beyond) the minimalist end of the character-representational spectrum, we find what might be called implied characters, that is, characters that are not in any way given, represented, named, or performed, but can only exist in the minds of their players during play, as a formal slot without physical, structural, communicational, or mental properties.