Captura do sensível: imaginário sócio-espacial nos videogames

Abstract

Socially instituted and shared, the socio-spatial imaginary of a society gives meaning to its social relations and their manifestation as social space. This imaginary is not of a bio-physiological nature, but rather socially instituted and spatially manifested. One of the forms of socialization of this imaginary is through video games. In contemporary times, the media images often impose world meanings on society members. This is perhaps more pronounced in games because in them there is agency: the user interacts in the digital world using a physical controller interface. In this intersection between the digital and the real, the player, by acting, consciously adheres to the fictional world, engaging in a process of performing belief, in which he pretends to believe that the simulation is real. However, regardless of how realistic games may aspire to be, their fictional world is necessarily simplified and stylized, never fully replicating reality, and the player doesn't ignore it is fiction. These gaps do not stop one from performing belief; on the contrary, they are filled thanks to it. When playing, the player deals with operative imaginary meanings chosen as important by the game developers, and in order to believe in the cohesion of the fictional world, they fill in the gaps based on their own socio-spatial imaginary, derived from their social fabrication as members of society. In return, when repeatedly dealing with these digitally simulated meanings, they become references for the player's construction of world meanings. This occurs through the capture of the sensible: the player willingly embraces the digital world of the game, and even though they are aware that it is make-believe, the experience affects the individual's socialization process, potentially leading to the critique or naturalization of established socio-spatial relationships and practices. In this study, I reflect on how the socio-spatial imaginary is revealed in games and how the production of space is portrayed in them, speculating on how this retroacts on society.