Miguel Rodrigo de Haro is a PhD candidate from the Complutense University of Madrid working in the fields of game studies, literary theory, and aesthetics. His doctoral project is focused on developing a videogame defamiliarization theory. This is a theory of dynamics and movement in a general sense, centered on the perceptive singularities of videogame aesthetics and their complex artistic connections.
Research Priorities
- Reformulations of Russian Formalism for the study of contemporary aesthetics, with a focus on defamiliarization
- Theoretical approaches to videogames, including questions of ontology, epistemology, and methodology
- Analytical applications of game theory to ludonarrative phenomena, with case studies on walking simulators, open worlds, and soulslikes
Current Research
His stay in Cologne Game Lab will focus on finishing this theory, analysing how videogame design conveys a defamiliarizing effect to make the work aesthetically perceptible and palpable. This is carried out by a myriad of devices, from common and simple elements such as obstacles or randomness to more complex, experimental or transcendental ones, such as political or philosophical conundrums or ludonarrative resignifications. His research in the CGL will analyse how defamiliarization permeates all these design decisions, but also the cultural, economic, or technical contexts that either limit or make possible the final aesthetic experiences of videogames.
Contact
| Email: | migrod12[at]ucm.es |