Interview with a Word: Language as Collective Practice for Transformational Change

This paper “Interview with a Word: Language as Collective Practice for Transformational Change” (2025) presents Interview with a Word, a collaborative language game that aims to decentralize the power to define language. It was designed to increase what linguist David Bleich calls “access to language” by facilitating fluid practices of translanguaging, rather than writing fixed definitions of key terms. Its game-play blends synchronous and asynchronous spaces to create dynamic, living documents that reflect a wide range of voices. Played in diverse digital and live locations by people with different social belongings, the game invites players to blend personal stories with traditional wisdom and scholarly and scientific knowledge to give meaning to key terms, challenging top-down knowledge frameworks.

Interview with a Word was developed as part of a digital glossary project commissioned by CreaTures – Creative Practices for Transformational Futures, a research project launched in 2020.

O artigo foi lançado como parte da “1ª Conferência Internacional de Tecnologias Sociais da Memória” (2025), e da 12ª Conferência Internacional de Digital Storytelling, que propõe reflexão sobre o papel das tecnologias sociais da memória inspirando ações e transformações. Intitulado “Vidas, Vozes e Saberes em um Mundo em Chamas”, a conferência híbrida reuniu nomes que são referência mundial em memória, tecnologias sociais e cultura. É uma realização do Sesc, StoryCenter, Museu da Pessoa, Ministério da Cultura e Governo Federal. Conta com o patrocínio do Mercado Livre e 3M.