Epistemic Genres by Voorhees, Gerald A.; Call, Joshua; Wysocki, Matthew; Brey, Betsy;

Short description:

"This edited volume theorizes and explicates ""epistemic genres"" of digital games, which are defined by the social uses and meanings attributed to different constellations of games by communities of players."

Long description:

"

This anthology brings together scholars from around the world to theorize and explore ""epistemic genres"" of digital games, which are defined by the social uses and meanings attributed to different constellations of games by the communities that play, make, and study them.

Game studies has experienced a cultural turn in the last decade, centering the social dimensions of games and play. What resources for theorizing game genres emerge from this cultural turn? How might the critical theories of race and culture, intersectional feminism, queer and trans theory, eco-criticism, and post-colonial and decolonial interventions of the past decade suggest new ways of thinking about game genres? The chapters in this edited volume make a case for epistemic genres that are distinguished primarily by their social context and use. The notion of epistemic genre centers the player's experience and the meanings that emerge from distinct communities as they engage with games. Epistemic game genres are those constellations of games that overflow and cut-across the genre boundaries of the commercial game industry and mainstream gaming culture.

The first section examines epistemic genres as they are constituted by different scholarly lenses. Here, the contributors consider how certain scholarly theories allow us to see the connections between seemingly disparate games. The second section examines epistemic genres as products of specific material and discursive contexts. The third section examines epistemic genres defined by the specific interpretive frames of communities of players that share a cultural lexicon, symbol system, or grammar. Overall, the chapters in this book make the case for understanding game genres as formations shaped more by play than the qualities of the games themselves.

Table of Contents:

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Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors

Introduction: Epistemic Genres as Cultures of Play: A Transversal Cut Across the Ordinary
Gerald Voorhees (University of Waterloo, Canada) and Josh Call (Grand View University, USA)

1. What If the Ludology vs Narratology Debate Never Happened? A Counterfactual Social Epistemology
William White (Penn State Altoona, USA)
2. Horror As Medium: An Examination of Environmental Horror in Video Games
Pamela Maria Schmidt (UniversityofWaterloo, Canada) and Sid Heeg (UniversityofWaterloo, USA)
3. Trauma Games: Current Research and Future Directions
Samuel Poirier-Poulin (Universiti??1?2deMontri??1?2al, Canada)
4. Solitary Role-Playing and Self-Reflection: RPG as Creative Playstyle
Aleksander Franiczek (UniversityofWaterloo, Canada)
5. Keeping with the Rhythm: Corporeal Entrainment and the Pursuit of Synchrony in Rhythm Games
Katarzyna Marak (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland) and Artur Szarecki (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland)
6. ""Spatial Games"" as Reproductions of Space: A Space-centered Analysis of Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed's Reproduction of Akihabara, Tokyo
William Helmke (University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, USA)
7. Blockbuster Games: Industrial Strategy Meets Genre
Andrei Zanescu (ConcordiaUniversity, Canada)
8. Death in the New World: Necropolitical Games
Josh Call (Grand View University, USA) and Thomas Lecaque (Grand View University, USA)
9. ARGs, LARPs, and Insurrection: Playing with Politics after the End of the Fake
Mark Nunes (Appalachian State University, USA)
10. Ecological Consequences in Ecosystem Management Games [1]
Adam Lefloi??1?2c Lebel (Universiti??1?2 du Qui??1?2bec en Abitibi-Ti??1?2miscamingue, Canada) and Simon Dor (Universiti??1?2 du Qui??1?2bec en Abitibi-Ti??1?2miscamingue, Canada)
11. Social Isolation, Loneliness, and The Echo Genre: Digital Connection in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Matthew Staron (George Mason University, USA)
12. Soulsborne Games and the Transcultural Gaming Experience
Alexander Hurezeanu (George Brown College, Canada)
13. ""Historical Authenticity and Digital Seriality: Re-learning and Un-learning Asian Past and Present through Gaming""
Jamie W.T. Tse (Chinese University of Hong Kong)
14. Is There Such Thing as a Latinx Game?
Regina Marie Mills (TexasA&MUniversity, USA)
15. Swords of the Spirit, Praise Music, and Scripture: Investigating the unusual world of Christian video games
Kevin Schut (Trinity Western University, Canada)
16. Gaming Beyond Death: Black Grieving and Restoration in League of Legends
Akil Fletcher (Princeton University, USA)
17. The Trans Game Genre: Sometimes Queer, Always Trans
Hibby Thach (UniversityofMichigan, USA) and Oliver Haimson (UniversityofMichigan, USA)

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