DIPLOMARBEIT Titel der Diplomarbeit „Live Action Role-play – A Narratological View“ Verfasserin Elisabeth Schwaiger angestrebter akademischer Grad Magistra der Philosophie (Mag.phil.) Wien, 2013 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 343 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Diplomstudium Anglistik und Amerikanistik Betreuerin: Ao. Univ. Prof. Mag. Dr. Eva Zettelmann 1 Abstract Live action role-play (or LARP) is an improvised theatrical performance game with personality developing elements that is conventionally played over the course of a weekend. It is performed mostly for recreational reasons and therefore does not feature any audience. The goal of this thesis is to do fundamental research on live action role-play from a narratological point of view. The knowledge presented was gained through experience in the organisation of, and participation in, several LARPs in Austria and Germany over the past twelve years. The thesis will first explain what LARP is by defining its relevant elements, such as the different kinds of participants (gamemasters, non-player characters and players), the different states of the game (in-time and out-time) and the two main approaches to it (storytelling and acting). It will then move on to categorise live action role-play according to its literary, historical or purely fantastic roots, arriving at a list of LARP’s overall conventions. This thesis shows how LARP creates a variety of texts in preparation for a performance (plot, world backgrounds, character descriptions), through the performance itself (lyrics, poems...) and as a reflective exercise after the performance has concluded (down-time texts, reports, pictures...). LARP plots and their fluid narrative structure with various storylines are explained in detail. A short historical overview puts live action role-play into a real life context. All of the above opens the way for an analysis which shows that LARP participants create multimedia imaginary entertainment environments (cf. Mackay 29), that showing and telling as well as real-life sensitivities permeate all of LARP’s levels, that real and implied author as well as narrator seem to merge in the figure of the gamemaster, that LARP features most aspects of temporality offered by classical narrative genres. The analysis also shows how perception involves all the senses and is interwoven with creative appropriation of the environment and that LARP characterisation follows classical modes of speech, appearance etc. while also, uniquely, including ‘mistakes’ in the portrayal and a spontaneous development through interaction. 2 List of Abbreviations LARP………………Live Action Role-Play GM…………………Gamemaster IT…………………...In-Time NPC………………..Non-Player Character OT………………….Out-Time 3 Content Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 1 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................ 2 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 5 2. The Structure of LARP ....................................................................................................... 7 2.1 The Gamemaster (GM) ................................................................................................ 7 2.2 The Non-Player Characters (NPCs) .......................................................................... 9 2.3 The Players .................................................................................................................... 9 2.4 Audience ....................................................................................................................... 10 3. Approaches to LARP: Acting vs. Storytelling ................................................................ 11 4. In-Time and Out-Time – The Different Levels of the Game ....................................... 12 5. Types of LARP ................................................................................................................... 14 5.1 Literary .......................................................................................................................... 14 5.2 Literary and Historical ................................................................................................. 14 5.3 Historical Fantasy. ...................................................................................................... 15 5.4 Pen & Paper Derivatives ............................................................................................ 16 5.6 Generic ......................................................................................................................... 17 5.7 Experiments. ................................................................................................................ 18 6. LARP Conventions ............................................................................................................ 18 7. LARP’s Text ....................................................................................................................... 20 8. A short history of Live Action Role-Play ........................................................................ 22 9. Creating Realities for LARP ............................................................................................. 24 9.1 Imaginary entertainment-environment. .................................................................... 26 10. Space and Place in LARP ............................................................................................. 28 11. Story and Discourse ....................................................................................................... 30 12. Mimesis and Diegesis in LARP ..................................................................................... 31 12.1 Diegetic and Extra-Diegetic Elements in LARP ................................................... 32 13. Real Author and Implied Author in LARP .................................................................... 33 14. The Gamemaster as Narrator ....................................................................................... 36 14.1 Focalisation/Narrative Situation in LARP .............................................................. 37 14.2 Narrator Authority and Presence ............................................................................ 38 14.4 LARP Narrator Reliability ......................................................................................... 39 11.5 Overt vs. Covert Narration ....................................................................................... 41 11.6 A Story within the Story ........................................................................................... 41 15. Time .................................................................................................................................. 41 15.1 Order in LARP ........................................................................................................... 45 4 15.2 Duration in LARP ...................................................................................................... 46 15.2.1 The End in LARP ............................................................................................... 48 15.3 Frequency in LARP .................................................................................................. 48 16. Perception in LARP ........................................................................................................ 50 16.1 Physical Perception .................................................................................................. 50 16.2 Emotional Responses .............................................................................................. 52 16.3 Imagination and Perception .................................................................................... 53 17. Gaps in LARP .................................................................................................................. 54 17.1 Inverted Gaps ............................................................................................................ 56 18. LARP Plots ....................................................................................................................... 58 18.1 Plot Structure ............................................................................................................. 60 18.2 Fluidity of (Plot) Structure ........................................................................................ 62 19. Characterisation .............................................................................................................. 66 19.1 Character Speech ..................................................................................................... 66 19.2 Character Appearance ............................................................................................. 68 19.3 Character Surroundings ........................................................................................... 71 19.4 Flat vs. Round Characters ....................................................................................... 71 19.5 Characters as Real People ..................................................................................... 75 19.6 Character Development ..........................................................................................