2019
de Wildt, Lars; Apperley, Thomas H.; Clemens, Justin; Fordyce, Robbie; Mukherjee, Souvik
(Re-)Orienting the Video Game Avatar Journal Article
In: Games and Culture, vol. 15, iss. 8, pp. 962–981, 2019, ISSN: 1555-4120.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Avatars, Cultural appropriation, Diversity, Game culture, Postcolonialism
@article{deWildt2019,
title = {(Re-)Orienting the Video Game Avatar},
author = {Lars de Wildt and Thomas H. Apperley and Justin Clemens and Robbie Fordyce and Souvik Mukherjee},
doi = {10.1177/1555412019858890},
issn = {1555-4120},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-06-17},
urldate = {2019-06-17},
journal = {Games and Culture},
volume = {15},
issue = {8},
pages = {962–981},
abstract = {This article explores the cultural appropriation of the term avatar by Western tech culture and what this implies for scholarship of digital games, virtual worlds, social media, and digital cultures. The term has roots in the religious tradition of the Indian subcontinent and was subsequently imported into video game terminology during a period of widespread appropriation of Eastern culture by Californian tech industries. We argue that the use of the term was not a case of happenstance but a signaling of the potential for computing to offer a mystical or enchanted perspective within an otherwise secular world. This suggests that the concept is useful in game cultures precisely because it plays with the “otherness” of the term's original meaning. We argue that this indicates a fundamental hybridity to gaming cultures that highlight the need to add postcolonial perspectives to how issues of diversity and power in gaming cultures are understood.},
keywords = {Avatars, Cultural appropriation, Diversity, Game culture, Postcolonialism},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article explores the cultural appropriation of the term avatar by Western tech culture and what this implies for scholarship of digital games, virtual worlds, social media, and digital cultures. The term has roots in the religious tradition of the Indian subcontinent and was subsequently imported into video game terminology during a period of widespread appropriation of Eastern culture by Californian tech industries. We argue that the use of the term was not a case of happenstance but a signaling of the potential for computing to offer a mystical or enchanted perspective within an otherwise secular world. This suggests that the concept is useful in game cultures precisely because it plays with the “otherness” of the term's original meaning. We argue that this indicates a fundamental hybridity to gaming cultures that highlight the need to add postcolonial perspectives to how issues of diversity and power in gaming cultures are understood.
Suominen, Jaakko; Harviainen, J. Tuomas
Comics as an Introduction to Media Technology: The Finnish Case – Television and Donald Duck in the 1950s and the Early 1960s Journal Article
In: Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television, vol. 39, iss. 2, pp. 384-402, 2019, ISSN: 0143-9685.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Cultural appropriation, Domestication of technology, Donald Duck, Media history
@article{Suominen2019,
title = {Comics as an Introduction to Media Technology: The Finnish Case – Television and Donald Duck in the 1950s and the Early 1960s},
author = {Jaakko Suominen and J. Tuomas Harviainen},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201906172066},
doi = {10.1080/01439685.2018.1544197},
issn = {0143-9685},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-04-03},
journal = {Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television},
volume = {39},
issue = {2},
pages = {384-402},
abstract = {This article deals with the relationship between television – a new form of media technology in 1950s Finland – and the introduction of the Donald Duck comic book. The article analyses the three most essential imaginary perspectives on the uses of media technology: interactivity, publicity seeking and tinkering with a television. On one hand, the article introduces the various ways in which the comic book represented and introduced the media format to the Finnish public, and on the other hand, how it actively participated in the contemporary public debate on the meanings of television and its use that took place at that time.},
keywords = {Cultural appropriation, Domestication of technology, Donald Duck, Media history},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article deals with the relationship between television – a new form of media technology in 1950s Finland – and the introduction of the Donald Duck comic book. The article analyses the three most essential imaginary perspectives on the uses of media technology: interactivity, publicity seeking and tinkering with a television. On one hand, the article introduces the various ways in which the comic book represented and introduced the media format to the Finnish public, and on the other hand, how it actively participated in the contemporary public debate on the meanings of television and its use that took place at that time.