Video games : beyond entertainment -
| dc.contributor.author | Hassan, Wajih Ziad | |
| dc.contributor.department | Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies | |
| dc.contributor.faculty | Faculty of Arts and Sciences | |
| dc.contributor.institution | American University of Beirut | |
| dc.date | 2018 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-10-11T11:36:55Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-10-11T11:36:55Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018 | |
| dc.date.submitted | 2018 | |
| dc.description | Thesis. M.A. American University of Beirut. Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies, 2018. T:6781$Advisor : Dr. Nadia Bou Ali, Assistant Professor, Civilization Studies ; Members of Committee : Dr. Rima Majed, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies ; Dr. Sara Mourad, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies. | |
| dc.description | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-110) | |
| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this thesis is to study the reproduction of capitalist ideology in video games. The thesis grounds itself in the Marxist critique of ideology with a focus on Louis Althusser’s theory of ideology as well as the psychoanalytic accounts of fantasy. To explain in detail the capitalist ideologies reproduced in video games the thesis employs participant observation in the analysis of Skyrim, Pharaoh, and BioShock. The thesis attempts to discern the potential utilization and influence of online gaming communities for imagining non-capitalist futures and it looks at the online gaming communities, the souls-borne community—that bring together players of Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls 1,2, and 3, and Bloodborne. The thesis concludes with a study of the different ‘community leaders’ – content creators and live streamers on YouTube and on Twitch —of the souls-borne online gaming community using Weber’s theories of charismatic leadership in order to pose the question: does a community founded on video games, with leaders of compelling charismatic qualities, and dedicated members have enough potential to reach a goal beyond just entertainment and maybe at some point to be used in visualizing a challenge to the dominant ideologies of capitalist relations that mediate social activity today? | |
| dc.format.extent | 1 online resource (x, 110 leaves) : illustrations | |
| dc.identifier.other | b21085286 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10938/21359 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.subject.classification | T:006781 | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Video games -- Social aspects.$Internet games -- Social aspects.$Capitalism.$Ideology.$Fantasy.$Communities. | |
| dc.title | Video games : beyond entertainment - | |
| dc.title.alternative | Beyond entertainment | |
| dc.type | Thesis |
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