Undead Avatars

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewan Kirkland
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Digital Form ◽  
Horror Genre

In contrast to other forms of popular culture, zombies have a historically consistent presence within digital games. Extending research which explores self-reflexivity across the horror genre, this chapter examines ways in which videogame zombies comment upon the nature of the digital form and its player relationship. Central to this analysis is an argument that the videogame avatar, the figure which players control, is itself zombie-like, a dead thing given life through the cybernetic interface of the player. Successful play entails the user becoming machine-like in their engagement with the videogame’s digital apparatus. Exploring games such as Quake, Resident Evil and Forbidden Siren, it is argued that zombies within horror videogames function as a metaphor for uncanny processes at work within the videogame medium itself.

Toward a Cultural Sociology of the Consumption of “Fantasy Football Hooliganism”

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Poulton
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Cultural Sociology ◽  
Entertainment Industry ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
Related Disorder ◽  
Fantasy Football

Football hooliganism has a wide appeal within popular culture. Numerous books, films, documentaries, digital games, and even stage plays have featured representations of the phenomenon. All are presentations of what could be termed “fantasy football hooliganism” in that they are attempts by the entertainment industry to represent, reproduce, or simulate football-related disorder for our leisure consumption. This article offers a conceptual framework (underpinned by the work of Blackshaw & Crabbe) for the sociological analysis of the consumption and production of these fantasy football hooliganism texts.

scholarly journals CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE MYTHMAKING OF H.P. LOVECRAFT

2019 ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
Denis D. Pyzikov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
New England ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Western Esotericism

H.P. Lovecraft created an original mythology that has not only become science fiction and fantasy classics, but also determined horror genre development in general. In his literary works, Lovecraft used images derived from both ancient religious traditions and contemporary western esotericism, filling his imaginary worlds with mysterious cosmic creatures. The writer’s cultural and historic environment played a very important role as the cultural landscape of New England and theosophical concepts widespread at that time had a great impact on the author’s work and writing. The original “mythology” invented by Lovecraft later played a key role in development of some new religious movements. Besides, Lovecraft’s mythology and images are reflected in the modern popular culture. The paper analyzes Lovecraft’s works and religious motives that are used or reflected in them, cultural factors that influenced the writer and Lovecraft’s heritage place in occult concepts, practices and subcultures of today.

scholarly journals Semiotic in Interpreting the Text of Women's Role Indonesian Horror Film in "Setan Jamu Gendong"

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rr. Astri Indriana Octavita ◽  
Yulia Sofiani Zaimar
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Female Sexuality ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Woman Character ◽  
Critical Theories ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Women's Role

<p>This research applies an analysis of a woman character in Indonesian horror film, through deeply exploration of <em>Setan Jamu Gendong</em> movie. This horror film, that is concerned with female sexuality. <em>Jamu</em> seller character in <em>Setan Jamu Gendong</em> movie would be chosen to be the subject of this academic research, usually comparing their features with those of the stereotype. The data that is taken, show the <em>jamu</em> seller should be considered as protagonist characters. Nevertheless, she could express multiple functions. While this is a broad and concentrate on area of the research, work in it has been shaped by a pronounced emphasis upon semiotic and feminist theory, which the researchers think, has limited the field in analyzing. In defining these diverse constructs, the researchers expand this focus sexuality by drawing from critical theories of semiology to provide the details of the way that taken-for-granted ideas about normative female sexuality are articulated, and stereotyping in popular culture. Over the research, it would show, how these paradigms serve to constrain and simplify broader cultural conceptualizations of female semiotically sexuality, placed them in second gender, At the outset of the research, the researchers had hoped to find out, that the horror genre in Indonesia was a place in which alternative modes of being and subordination could be explored and considered.</p><strong>Keywords:</strong> women, <em>jamu</em>, semiotic, gender, stereotype

scholarly journals Kosmos zmodyfikowany — wybrane gry symulacyjne w kontekście kultury uczestnictwa

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 495-510
Author(s):  
Rafał Kochanowicz
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Original Text

Lawrence Lessig — in the book titled Remix — indirectly defined most of the dependencies that today determine the dimension and nature of modding related to games. Mods can be considered an eloquent example of Read/ Write culture. Players are not only consumers of digital games, but creators who exert more and more influence on the character of contemporary popular culture. The examples discussed in the article show three aspects of modding. The first example, concerning the modification of XWA, shows that the re-actualisation (modding) of the original text does not de-grade it — on the contrary — it prolongs its functioning and confirms its culture-forming character. The second example — related to the X-Universe series of games — is a testimony to the cooper-ation of professional programmers and modders, in turn, is a testimony to prosumption (modding), which develops the text of culture also thanks to the “democratisation of creation tools”. The authors (Egosoft) intentionally provide script editors with, even those rather unfamiliar with programming, players can introduce their own solutions into the virtual environment and test the functionality of their ideas. In turn, the history and culture-creating dimension of Discovery Freelancer makes it clear that even the most comprehensive mods are not competing with the original text — they remain concretisation of its (presupposed) potential.

scholarly journals “Demons to some. Angels to others”: BDSM and how Vanilla Sex Regulates Sexuality in Hellraiser and Strangeland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandrea Fiorante
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
Psychological Disorder ◽  
Statistical Manual ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Diagnostic And Statistical Manual ◽  
Identity Disclosure ◽  
Mainstream Culture ◽  
The Relationship

[Introduction] Setting the Mood Sex is typically seen as special, thrilling and transcendent — or, alternatively, as a menacing force with the power to upset social order and diminish us to beasts. In the horror genre, representations of sex are often expressed through the imagery of BDSM (Bondage, Domination, Sadomasochism), and are aligned with monsters, torture and scary settings. The reality of the BDSM subculture is disfigured by mainstream horror films, which demonize BDSM and use it as a portable method of garnering screams. Horror as a genre allows audiences to flirt with danger, while reinforcing boundaries between pathological non-normal sexuality and protected and privileged normal sexuality. BDSM has gained considerable scholarly attention in the last two decades within and beyond sociology, particularly in the areas of sexual deviance, identity disclosure and development, stigma management (Bezreh, Pitagora, Simula), and more recently, BDSM’s diffusion into the mainstream culture (Weiss, Scott). Further, research has examined how popular culture perpetuates misconceptions about BDSM, and frames practitioners as victims of trauma, abuse, and rape (Brock, Bezreh, Rubin). This pathologization of BDSM, in part, stems from the assumption that BDSM is a mental illness, a consequence of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’s (DSM) historical conflation of psychological disorder and sadomasochism. Additionally, Western horror cinema has had a pivotal influence on popular discourses about BDSM. Less scholarship, however, has examined the relationship between horror and BDSM. This paper contributes to the scholarship on BDSM portrayals in popular culture by examining BDSM representations in two Hollywood horror films: Strangeland (1998) and Hellraiser (1987).

Situating Starbuck: Combative Femininity, Figurative Masculinity, and the Snap

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewan Kirkland
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Gender Politics ◽  
Television Series ◽  
Women Warriors ◽  
Battlestar Galactica ◽  
Action Heroine ◽  
Action Heroines ◽  
Action Hero

Ewan Kirkland’s “Situating Starbuck: Combative Femininity, Figurative Masculinity, and the Snap” studies the action heroine in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) television series. He argues that Starbuck exemplifies a transformation of the 1970s male action hero in post-Alien action adventure science fiction and fantasy, where women warriors increasingly feature as a generic staple. Situating Starbuck in relation to action heroines from film, television, and digital games as well as the academic arguments that circulate them affords an understanding of the gender politics of the character, and the extent to which she challenges dominant representations in popular culture.

Exploration on the Man-Machine Relationship in Digital Art

2013 ◽  
Vol 321-324 ◽  
pp. 965-968
Author(s):  
Wei Min Du ◽  
Qian Gao
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Digital Art ◽  
Unique Combination ◽  
Digital Form ◽  
Personal Privacy ◽  
Traditional Art ◽  
Science And Art ◽  
Art Form ◽  
Art Works ◽  
Technical Rules

As a unique combination of science and art, digital art is impacting on the traditional art form. Digital art is actively connected with popular culture and consuming culture by the use of television, computer, Internet and other means. Digital art also has a strong influence on public culture which is successfully avoided the defects such as personal privacy and narrow sense. Digital art is an art form which is built on some certain technology conditions. However, the artistic rules of digital art works should not be less than the technical rules. After all, artists should avoid changing and covering the shallow performance of the art concept by using the digital form of technology.

Religion in Games

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Steffen
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Game Practice

Digital games are an integral part of popular culture and the reality of life for many people. We are rarely aware that computer games also convey ideas about religion. Oliver Steffen examines the connection between digital games and religion using two examples: "Anno 1404" and "Risen". In his study, he developed a method that allows digital games and game practice to be examined from the religious studies point of view - without neglecting the special properties of the medium. Both the "playing observation" and the questioning of the players themselves are relevant. An important contribution for religious studies and game studies alike.

scholarly journals Close Encounter of the 3D Kind: Examining Constructions of the Foreign ‘Other’ in Japanese Videogames

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Christina Gmeinbauer
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Character Design ◽  
Japanese Studies ◽  
Socially Relevant ◽  
In Fire ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract As a relatively young medium, videogames have become an important part of global popular culture that cannot be underestimated. Due to rapid technological advances, the contents of today’s videogames are becoming increasingly complex. While games are publicly often denounced for causing aggression, violence, or even mental illness, game studies oppose such stereotypical views and seek possibilities to conduct research on digital games in a systematic and thorough manner. This paper draws on approaches from game studies to examine videogames from the perspective of Japanese studies. Assuming that videogames, like other mass media, take part in and shape socially relevant discourses, it will be analysed how the relation between ‘self’ and ‘other’ is constructed in Fire Emblem: Sōen no kiseki and Akatsuki no megami, Tales of Symphonia, and Zeruda no densetsu: Mujura no kamen. For this purpose, the games’ content and character design will be taken into account. Special emphasis will be placed on the question how the relationship between ‘self’ and ‘other’ becomes manifest in the relation between the player and the characters that is constructed during gameplay.

Conclusion

The Shining ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 99-102
Author(s):  
Laura Mee
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Genre Films ◽  
Over Time

This concluding chapter explains that while many studies and critiques have continued to limit its status within the horror genre, audiences and filmmakers have embraced Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980), with all of its ambiguities and oddities, as an enduringly popular, effective horror film. It marked a turning point in horror cinema's history and confirmed that mainstream, commercial genre films could be smart, beautiful, and original. It was stylistically and tonally unusual, auteurist and technically accomplished, enigmatic and unapologetic, and its influence is evident in a range of subsequent works. Over time, it has continued to inspire artistic, atmospheric horror, and its endless recycled references have contributed to both its extraordinary impact on popular culture and its ultimate genre canonisation. Indeed, The Shining has staked its claim in horror history.

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