A Beginner's Guide to Painted Worlds: The Haunted Mansion, Dark Souls III, and the Playground of Interpretation

Abstract

This paper describes a set of spatialized narrative designs that elicit certain practices of intersubjective interpretation; I term these spaces playgrounds of interpretation in reference to the playful and ongoing negotiation of a shared reality that takes place within them. Drawing on Ricouerian hermeneutic theory, performance theory, fan studies, and the history of visual media, I develop a framework of analysis that examines how these intentionally designed spaces attempt to resist the closure of meaning associated with hermeneutic action by distributing signifiers across space such that they are unable to be thought in sequence. I then examine the communal interpretive play that emerges within and around the playground of interpretation and the ability of these communities to engage meaningfully beyond the fictional boundaries of the playground. I conclude by arguing for the importance of critical engagement with these understudied spaces and the potential within.