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      • HARVEST
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      On perspectives and ergodics: video games as literature

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      OnPerspectivesandErgodics.pdf (521.0Kb)
      Date
      2009-09
      Author
      Jackson, Jordan
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
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      Abstract
      Video games are currently stigmatized in general culture as a lesser form of entertainment, and much of the current scholarly debate on them is unable to identify those games that also function as works of literature and to perform appropriate critical analysis. This thesis aims to rectify the above through two separate engagements. The first engagement demonstrates that the current scholarly debate over avatars can be redirected into a more productive debate on perspectives: the way in which a player is situated within a game and how this alters how the game story is told. The second engagement is with Espen Aarseth’s concept of ergodic literature, and thus demonstrate how this unique property of video games allows for the traversal of a video game’s narrative. These two issues when considered together provide a method for determining whether a video game is attempting to also be literature.
      Degree
      Master of Arts (M.A.)
      Department
      English
      Program
      English
      Supervisor
      Muri, Allison
      Committee
      Hynes, Peter; Vargo, Lisa; Mandryk, Regan; Flynn, Kevin
      Copyright Date
      September 2009
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-09152009-220339
      Subject
      avatar
      video game
      perspective
      literature
      ergodic
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