Performance Through an Avatar: Exploring Affect and Ideology Through Narrative in Videogames

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dc.contributor.advisorLevin, Laura
dc.creatorOwen, David Douglas
dc.date.accessioned2016-09-20T16:38:12Z
dc.date.available2016-09-20T16:38:12Z
dc.date.copyright2015-11-13
dc.date.issued2016-09-20
dc.date.updated2016-09-20T16:38:12Z
dc.degree.disciplineTheatre and Performance Studies
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractVideogames are a major source of popular cultural narratives surpassing even Hollywood films. Videogames, however, cast the player as the active agent within the narrative as opposed to film, television, and traditional theatre where the separation between performer and audience is clearly demarcated. This dissertation investigates the affective potential of videogames realized through the relationship of the player and the avatar within the game world. Specifically, I look at the avatar as an affective conduit for the player, how the feedback between the player and avatar creates a cybernetic relationship, how this relationship changes the player, and how this change potentially augments the players interpretation of realityvirtual and otherwise. It is through this changed (and augmented) interpretation of reality that socio/political ideological meaningsintentional or notmay be absorbed by the player. Ethnographic research conducted with six volunteer participants combined with my own autoethnographic research into several recent popular videogames is intersected with theories of affect, embodiment, and ideology. My findings suggest that experience with the virtual realities of game worlds is one step removed from actual experience. Since videogames are composed of representations, the ideological positions embedded within those representations are not simply presented and understood like traditional theatre, film, and television, but are embodied by the player through the avatar as (nearly direct) experience. Theatre, film, and television have rich critical histories and this study of the players performance through the avatar as an affective conduit and receiver/transmitter of ideology joins the growing critical body of work regarding the newer storytelling medium of videogames.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/32173
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectPerforming arts
dc.subject.keywordsPerformance Studies
dc.subject.keywordsVideogames
dc.subject.keywordsVideo Games
dc.subject.keywordsAvatar
dc.subject.keywordsPerformance
dc.subject.keywordsAffect
dc.subject.keywordsProprioception
dc.subject.keywordsIdeology
dc.subject.keywordsGame Studies
dc.subject.keywordsTheatre
dc.subject.keywordsTheater
dc.subject.keywordsAgency
dc.subject.keywordsNoeme
dc.subject.keywordsBody Without Organs
dc.subject.keywordsCyborg
dc.subject.keywordsCybernetic Relationship
dc.subject.keywordsGamer
dc.subject.keywordsNarrative
dc.subject.keywordsVirtual Reality
dc.subject.keywordsAugmented Reality
dc.subject.keywordsEnvironmental Narrative
dc.subject.keywordsEnvironmental Storytelling
dc.subject.keywordsSocial Gaming
dc.subject.keywordsConsole Gaming
dc.subject.keywordsComputer Gaming
dc.titlePerformance Through an Avatar: Exploring Affect and Ideology Through Narrative in Videogames
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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