2020
Mäyrä, Frans
Game Culture Studies and the Politics of Scholarship: The Opposites and the Dialectic Journal Article
In: GAME: The Italian Journal of Game Studies, vol. 9, iss. 1, pp. 11-31, 2020, ISSN: 2280-7705.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Formalism, History of game studies, Literary studies, Poststructuralism, Theory wars
@article{Mäyrä2020,
title = {Game Culture Studies and the Politics of Scholarship: The Opposites and the Dialectic},
author = {Frans Mäyrä},
url = {https://www.gamejournal.it/game-culture/},
issn = {2280-7705},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
journal = {GAME: The Italian Journal of Game Studies},
volume = {9},
issue = {1},
pages = {11-31},
abstract = {This article explores the early history (and even some prehistory) of game studies from a perspective that is informed by an analysis of claimed opposition between “objective” and “politically committed” research. There is a well-documented and long intellectual history of fundamental disagreements that have set apart the various idealist, rationalist, positivist, empiricist, and constructivist orientations in academia, for example. However, the contemporary climate of “culture wars” has surrounded such disputes with a novel, often toxic framing that aggravates confrontations and erodes possibilities for reaching agreement. This article tracks the charged prehistory of contemporary game studies on one hand into the rise of poststructuralism and the “theory wars” of 1970s and 1980s, and then moves to discuss the heritage of literary studies for game studies. The special emphasis is put on formalism as a strategy of manufacturing authority and objectivity for arts and humanities-based disciplines. The key argument in the article is that this history of intellectual warfare hides from us an alternative history – a dialectical one, which has quietly grown to become arguably the mainstream of (cultural) game studies today. Rather than isolating the formal and cultural, or aesthetic and political dimensions of game cultural agency and meaning making, the examples discussed at the end of article point towards the strategic value produced by such a dialectic approach for game studies.},
keywords = {Formalism, History of game studies, Literary studies, Poststructuralism, Theory wars},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article explores the early history (and even some prehistory) of game studies from a perspective that is informed by an analysis of claimed opposition between “objective” and “politically committed” research. There is a well-documented and long intellectual history of fundamental disagreements that have set apart the various idealist, rationalist, positivist, empiricist, and constructivist orientations in academia, for example. However, the contemporary climate of “culture wars” has surrounded such disputes with a novel, often toxic framing that aggravates confrontations and erodes possibilities for reaching agreement. This article tracks the charged prehistory of contemporary game studies on one hand into the rise of poststructuralism and the “theory wars” of 1970s and 1980s, and then moves to discuss the heritage of literary studies for game studies. The special emphasis is put on formalism as a strategy of manufacturing authority and objectivity for arts and humanities-based disciplines. The key argument in the article is that this history of intellectual warfare hides from us an alternative history – a dialectical one, which has quietly grown to become arguably the mainstream of (cultural) game studies today. Rather than isolating the formal and cultural, or aesthetic and political dimensions of game cultural agency and meaning making, the examples discussed at the end of article point towards the strategic value produced by such a dialectic approach for game studies.
2019
Korpua, Jyrki; Ruotsalainen, Maria; Siikilä-Laitila, Minna; Välisalo, Tanja; Hirsjärvi, Irma
Experiencing the Sacred: The Hobbit as a Holy Text Book Section
In: Cusack, Carole M.; Morehead, John W.; Robertson, Venetia Laura Delano (Ed.): The Sacred in Fantastic Fandom: Essays on the Intersection of Religion and Pop Culture, pp. 102-118, McFarland & Company, Inc, 2019, ISBN: 978-1-4766-708-36.
Tags: Fantasy, Literary studies, Reader-response criticism, Religion
@incollection{nokey,
title = {Experiencing the Sacred: The Hobbit as a Holy Text},
author = {Jyrki Korpua and Maria Ruotsalainen and Minna Siikilä-Laitila and Tanja Välisalo and Irma Hirsjärvi},
editor = {Carole M. Cusack and John W. Morehead and Venetia Laura Delano Robertson},
isbn = {978-1-4766-708-36},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-04-16},
booktitle = {The Sacred in Fantastic Fandom: Essays on the Intersection of Religion and Pop Culture},
pages = {102-118},
publisher = {McFarland & Company, Inc},
keywords = {Fantasy, Literary studies, Reader-response criticism, Religion},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
Torner, Evan
Planescape: Torment: Immersion Book Section
In: Payne, Matthew Thomas; Huntemann, Nina B. (Ed.): How to Play Video Games, pp. 52-58, New York University Press, 2019, ISBN: 9781479830404.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Affect, Immersion, Literary studies, Planescape: Torment, Role-playing games
@incollection{nokey,
title = {Planescape: Torment: Immersion},
author = {Evan Torner},
editor = {Matthew Thomas Payne and Nina B. Huntemann},
doi = {10.18574/9781479830404},
isbn = {9781479830404},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-03-26},
booktitle = {How to Play Video Games},
pages = {52-58},
publisher = {New York University Press},
abstract = {Although scholars and critics often cite aspects of audiovisual design and quick-twitch gameplay as the primary means by which players immerse themselves in a game’s fiction, Planescape: Torment—a highly rated computer role-playing game with dated graphics and sound—proves a counterexample to this discourse. In this chapter, Evan Torner discusses the importance of literary framing, affect, and narrative reincorporation—elements derived largely from novels and tabletop role-playing games—for the game’s achievement of that oft-heralded but ever-elusive aesthetic ideal of immersion.},
keywords = {Affect, Immersion, Literary studies, Planescape: Torment, Role-playing games},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
Although scholars and critics often cite aspects of audiovisual design and quick-twitch gameplay as the primary means by which players immerse themselves in a game’s fiction, Planescape: Torment—a highly rated computer role-playing game with dated graphics and sound—proves a counterexample to this discourse. In this chapter, Evan Torner discusses the importance of literary framing, affect, and narrative reincorporation—elements derived largely from novels and tabletop role-playing games—for the game’s achievement of that oft-heralded but ever-elusive aesthetic ideal of immersion.
2018
Jara, David; Torner, Evan
Literary Studies and Role-Playing Games Book Section
In: Zagal, José P.; Deterding, Sebastian (Ed.): Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations, pp. 265-282, Routledge, 2018, ISBN: 9781315637532.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Literary studies, Role-playing games
@incollection{Jara2018,
title = {Literary Studies and Role-Playing Games },
author = {David Jara and Evan Torner},
editor = {José P. Zagal and Sebastian Deterding},
url = {https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315637532-14/literary-studies-role-playing-games-david-jara-evan-torner},
isbn = {9781315637532},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-04-24},
urldate = {2018-04-24},
booktitle = {Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations},
pages = {265-282},
publisher = {Routledge},
abstract = {Literary Studies attempts to understand what texts mean and how they evoke these meanings. Analogously, past role-playing games (RPG) studies have chiefly adopted two major manifestations of Literary Studies: textual analysis concerned with the meaning and interpretation of RPGs and narratology, which is more interested in formally describing how RPGs and their stories are constructed. Literature itself has constantly staged its own playful nature. Game-like contests between poets featured prominently in early literature, such as the Greek eclogues. RPGs create a fictional reality that is 'embedded' in the real world. When communicating within the fictional world of the game, the language use functionally 'mimics' everyday language. Analog RPGs allow participants to directly affect or modify a game's basic 'architecture'. Tabletop players may point out inconsistencies in a location's description or request additional information during an ongoing scene. Digital RPGs become a stage for 'vast narratives', thanks to the capacity of computers to process huge amounts of information.},
keywords = {Literary studies, Role-playing games},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
Literary Studies attempts to understand what texts mean and how they evoke these meanings. Analogously, past role-playing games (RPG) studies have chiefly adopted two major manifestations of Literary Studies: textual analysis concerned with the meaning and interpretation of RPGs and narratology, which is more interested in formally describing how RPGs and their stories are constructed. Literature itself has constantly staged its own playful nature. Game-like contests between poets featured prominently in early literature, such as the Greek eclogues. RPGs create a fictional reality that is 'embedded' in the real world. When communicating within the fictional world of the game, the language use functionally 'mimics' everyday language. Analog RPGs allow participants to directly affect or modify a game's basic 'architecture'. Tabletop players may point out inconsistencies in a location's description or request additional information during an ongoing scene. Digital RPGs become a stage for 'vast narratives', thanks to the capacity of computers to process huge amounts of information.