Abstract

This essay draws from materialist rhetoric and game studies to conceptualize games as objects and sets of material practices whose relations to other objects and practices articulate discursive knowledge and, therefore, serve as sites of meaning making. Employing a Foucauldian archeology, it draws on documents, practices, and records surrounding the board game go during Japan's Edo period (1603–1868) to demonstrate how practices related to the game operated as part of a "governing apparatus" aimed at the regulation of players' bodies. This analysis locates the rhetorical value of games in the relational contexts that structure discursive knowledge, framing game practice as material exercises of these knowledges, or rhetorical knowledges. As one consequence, this approach opens a space to conceive of game-adjacent texts, paratexts, and practices as essential components in the discussion of the discursive practice and rhetorical understanding of games.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2021-10-20
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2021.1972135
Open Access
OA PDF Bronze

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Rhetoric Society Quarterly

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

Also cites 20 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1080/15358593.2016.1260762
  2. 10.3983/twc.2018.1255
  3. 10.1177/1555412015616509
  4. 10.1080/10570314.2011.588902
  5. 10.1080/15295036.2017.1304648
  6. 10.1080/15295039809367031
  7. 10.1080/14791420.2015.1071309
  8. 10.4324/9780203731260
  9. 10.1177/0959354301114006
  10. 10.1007/BF00171367
  11. 10.1080/00335638409383686
  12. Compellence and the Strategic Culture of Imperial Japan: Implications for Coercive Diplom…
  13. 10.2307/2718340
  14. 10.1080/14791420.2015.1071308
  15. 10.1177/1555412016653341
  16. 10.2307/j.ctt1tg5mzk
  17. 10.2307/133123
  18. 10.2307/132529
  19. 10.1017/S0022050700078852
  20. 10.1007/978-1-4020-9485-9_13
CrossRef global citation count: 2 View in citation network →