Play america great again: manifestations of americanness in cold war themed video games
This study analyses mechanisms through which Cold War themed video games played from an American perspective propagate US authoritarianism by reiterating concepts of Americanness generated in popular media during the Cold War era. These video games work with cultural, historical, and social stereoty...
| Subtitles: | Special Issue: "Democracy Dies Playfully: (Anti-)Democratic Ideas in and Around Video Games" |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
2020
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| In: |
Gamevironments
Year: 2020, Volume: 13, Pages: 223-256 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
USA
/ Nationalism
/ Video game
/ East-West conflict (Motif)
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| RelBib Classification: | KBQ North America ZB Sociology ZC Politics in general ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies |
| Further subjects: | B
hyperreality
B gamevironments B american symbolism B Video Games B America B popular media B Democracy B baudrillard B Propaganda B cold car |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This study analyses mechanisms through which Cold War themed video games played from an American perspective propagate US authoritarianism by reiterating concepts of Americanness generated in popular media during the Cold War era. These video games work with cultural, historical, and social stereotypes to generate a dichotomy between good and evil and they heavily rely on emotions and morality in their portrayal of communist, socialist, and Soviet enemy forces. Popular concepts associated with America are used to propagate democracy and (political) freedom, while simultaneously vilifying their adversaries. Through drawing parallels to American Cold War propaganda and its utilisation of popular media, this paper asks how stereotypical notions of America are generated through symbolism in an engagement with material objects as well as thoughts and beliefs. Topics engaged with are media control, free speech, programming, espionage, intrigues, paranoia, trust, and the morality of the individual in a hyperreal environment. This study is conducted in reference to Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (2001), Freedom Fighters (2003), Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010), Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction (2010), Homefront (2011), and Alekhine’s Gun (2016). By considering mechanisms of propaganda in these games, it is shown how manifestations of Americanness are generated in them and how they affect friend and foe images. |
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| ISSN: | 2364-382X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Gamevironments
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.26092/elib/406 |