Deadline extended:

CFP: Medieval Video Gaming (proposals 10/01/2005)

Proposals for THE MEDIEVAL IN MOTION:
Neomedievalism in Film, Television, and Video Games
(An Anthology of Critical & Pedagogical Analysis)

I am soliciting proposal for essays (or completed essays) concerning the
representation of the medieval period in computer, video, and console
gaming. While the anthology is organized around the idea of "neomedievalism"
(defined below), contributors are encouraged to theorize the relationship of
the medieval / medievalisms to gaming in all its permutations. Additionally,
although it is not a widely-known fact, the video game industry outgrossed
Hollywood last year in terms of domestic sales, and many students' first
taste of the medieval period comes through the prism of video and console
games. Thus, computer and console games are an important area for
pedagogical reflection as well. Possibilities include:

* Analysis of specific games (Diablo, Morrowind, Dungeon Siege,
EverQuest, Fable, Stronghold, Medieval Total War, Age of Kings,
Civilization, Warcraft-World of Warcraft)

* Analysis of particular genres: First Person Shooters (FPS),
Real-Time Strategy (RTS), Role-Playing Games (RPG), Massively-Multiplayer
Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG), Turn-Based Strategy (TBS), Strategy,
Stealth, Horror, Adventure, Action

* Analysis of different platforms: PC, PS2, Xbox, GameCube, N64

* Chronological and technological development of games (Warcraft or
the Final Fantasy series)

* Online Guilds and Medieval(ish) Communities in MMORPGs

* Marginality and liminality in game world and level construction

* Old-school medievalism: text based games to Dungeons and Dragons

* Representations of gender, race, age, ethnicity,

* Representations of alternative species, aliens, and "otherness"

* Representations of medieval warfare, technology, religion, social
structure, and culture

Section Editor for Video Games:
Daniel T. Kline
Department of English
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99508

Proposals Due: 10/01/2005
Final Essays Due: 01/15/2006

BOOK UNDER CONTRACT WITH: EDWIN MELLEN PRESS

Many portrayals of the Middle Ages (well done or not) in motion pictures,
TV, and games have gone through three movements of narrative style:
Modernist-Medievalism, Post-Modernist Medievalism, Neomedievalism.
Historically, these movements of style can be seen to loosely correlate with
three movements of the technical medium of motion pictures: film,
television, and video games. While such an over-simplification is far from
comprehensive, we have proposed to use it to serve as a structural base from
which discussions and debates may orient: in either a reliance upon, an
expansion of, a disagreement with, or a total deconstruction of this base.
What can be said about medievalism in motion pictures, TV, and games that
hasn't been said before? In what ways might medieval motion pictures and
TV-from the passive/receptive experience of film to the interactive
experience of video games-be used productively in the classroom?

Send drafts and/or proposals to:

General Editor:
Carol L. Robinson
Kent State University-Trumbull
4314 Mahoning Ave., N.W.
Warren, Ohio 44483-1998
clrobins_at_kent.edu

* Section Ed.-Film: Pamela Clements, Sienna College
(clements_at_siena.edu)

* Section Ed.-Television: Sarah E. Gordon, U of Southern Utah
(sgordon_at_cc.usu.edu)

* Section Ed.-Video Gaming: Dan Kline, U of Alaska Anchorage
(afdtk_at_uaa.alaska.edu)

____________________________________

Dr. Daniel T. Kline

Associate Professor of English

U of Alaska Anchorage

3211 Providence Drive

Anchorage, Alaska 99508

907-786-4364 | afdtk_at_uaa.alaska.edu

http://hosting.uaa.alaska.edu/afdtk/ect
<http://hosting.uaa.alaska.edu/afdtk/ect_main.htm> _main.htm

"Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered

for just such an emergency."

 
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Received on Wed Aug 17 2005 - 06:04:21 EDT