History in Games: Contingencies of an Authentic Past
Bielefeld: transcript Verlag (2020), 280 pp.
Contains 11 illustrations
Series: Studies of Digital Media Culture, 12
ISBN 978-3-8394-5420-6 (pdf); 978-3-8376-5420-2 (print)
"Where do we end up when we enter the time machine that is the digital game? One axiomatic truth of historical research is that the past is the time-space that eludes human intervention. Every account made of the past is therefore only an approximation. But how is it that strolling through ancient Alexandria can feel so real in the virtual world? Claims of authenticity are prominent in discussions surrounding the digital games of our time. What is historical authenticity and does it even matter? When does authenticity or the lack thereof become political? By answering these questions, the book illuminates the ubiquitous category of authenticity from the perspective of historical game studies." (Publisher description)
Introduction: Approaching the Authenticities of Late Modernity / Felix Zimmermann, 9
HISTORY AS TOLD BY THE GAME
Quarry - Playground - Brand: Popular History in Video Games / Angela Schwarz, 25
Why History in Digital Games matters: Historical Authenticity as a Language for Ideological Myths / Eugen Pfister, 47
Social Practices of History in Digital Possibility Spaces: Historicity, Mediality, Performativity, Authenticity / Nico Nolden, 73
Tracing the Past with Digital Games: Historical Procedural Rhetorics / Rüdiger Brandis, 93
AUTHENTICITY IN AND OF HISTORY
History in Video Games and the Craze for the Authentic / Angela Schwarz, 117
Crusading Icons: Medievalism and Authenticity in Historical Digital Games / Andrew B.R. Elliott und Mike Horswell, 137
The Auteur and the 80s Mixtape: Popular Music and Authenticity in METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN / Andra Ivanescu, 157
Queer Authenticity in the History of Games: Experiences of Knowing, Negotiating and Portraying Queerness in Games throughout the Last Four Decades / Lara Keilbart, 179
THE POLITICS OF AUTHENTICITY
"If it's a fantasy world, why bother trying to make it realistic?" Constructing and Debating the Middle Ages of THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT / Aurelia Brandenburg, 201
How to Get Away with Colonialism: Two decades of discussing the ANNO Series / Tobias Winnerling, 221
Toying with History. Counterplay, Counterfactuals, and the Control of the Past / Angus A. A. Mol, 237
You Do Have Responsibility! How Games trivialize Fascism, why this should concern us and how we could change it / Jörg Friedrich, 259
HISTORY AS TOLD BY THE GAME
Quarry - Playground - Brand: Popular History in Video Games / Angela Schwarz, 25
Why History in Digital Games matters: Historical Authenticity as a Language for Ideological Myths / Eugen Pfister, 47
Social Practices of History in Digital Possibility Spaces: Historicity, Mediality, Performativity, Authenticity / Nico Nolden, 73
Tracing the Past with Digital Games: Historical Procedural Rhetorics / Rüdiger Brandis, 93
AUTHENTICITY IN AND OF HISTORY
History in Video Games and the Craze for the Authentic / Angela Schwarz, 117
Crusading Icons: Medievalism and Authenticity in Historical Digital Games / Andrew B.R. Elliott und Mike Horswell, 137
The Auteur and the 80s Mixtape: Popular Music and Authenticity in METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN / Andra Ivanescu, 157
Queer Authenticity in the History of Games: Experiences of Knowing, Negotiating and Portraying Queerness in Games throughout the Last Four Decades / Lara Keilbart, 179
THE POLITICS OF AUTHENTICITY
"If it's a fantasy world, why bother trying to make it realistic?" Constructing and Debating the Middle Ages of THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT / Aurelia Brandenburg, 201
How to Get Away with Colonialism: Two decades of discussing the ANNO Series / Tobias Winnerling, 221
Toying with History. Counterplay, Counterfactuals, and the Control of the Past / Angus A. A. Mol, 237
You Do Have Responsibility! How Games trivialize Fascism, why this should concern us and how we could change it / Jörg Friedrich, 259
