Early Modernity and Video Games

1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4438-5394-1
Verlag: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 265 Seiten

We cannot think of modern society without also thinking of video games. And we cannot think of video games without thinking of history either. Games that deal with history are sold in ever-increasing numbers, striving to create increasingly lively images of things past. For the science of history, this means that the presentation of historical content in such games has to be questioned, as well as the conceptions of history they embody. How do games create the feeling that they portray a past acceptable to their players? Do these popular representations of history intersect with academic narratives, or not? While a considerable body of work on similar questions already exists, both for medieval history as well as for those games dealing with the 20th century, early modernity has not yet been treated in this context. As many games draw their imagery – perhaps their success, too? – from the years between 1450 and 1815, it is to their understanding that this volume is dedicated. The contributions encompass a wide range of subjects and games, from Age of Empires to Assassin’s Creed, from Critical Discourse Analysis to Ludology. One aim unites them, namely an understanding of what happens when video games encounter early modernity.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Winnerling, Tobias

Kerschbaumer, Florian

Fachgebiete

• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Digital Lifestyle Computerspiele, Internetspiele
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften

Über Autor(innen)

Tobias Winnerling studied History, Philosophy and Japanology, passing his PhD with distinction in 2013. He is currently Research Assistant at the Chair of Early Modern History at Düsseldorf University, Germany, and is interested in the history of knowledge, the material history of the sciences, history in popular narratives, European-Asian interaction history, and, of course, video games.

Florian Kerschbaumer is a Research Assistant at the History Department of the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Austria. His research focuses on the history of international relations, the history of civil society and social movements, the abolition of slavery, historical network research, as well as history and new media.