Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gore Galore: Literary Theory and Computer Games

  • Published:
Computers and the Humanities Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Computer games have not beenadequately theorized within the humanities. Inthis paper a brief history of computer games ispresented as a starting point for developing atopology of games and a theory of computergames as rhetorical artifacts suitable forcritical study. The paper addresses thequestion of why games should be treatedseriously and suggests a theoretical approachbased on Bakhtin's poetics of the novel wherethe experience of time and space (thechronotope) provides a framework of questionsfor discussing computer games.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aarseth E. (1997) Cybertext; Perspectives on Ergotic Literature. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson C., Dill, K. (2000) Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78/4, pp. 772–790.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakhtin M.M. (1981) In Holquist,M. (ed.), The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M.M. Bakhtin, Trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist, University of Texas Press, Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakhtin M.M. (1986) In Holquist M. (ed.), Speech Genres and Other Late Essays, Trans. VernW. McGee, University of Texas Press, Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham V. (2001) Supercade: a Visual History of the Videogame Age, 1971–1984, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Classic Gaming (1998) The Museum of Classic Games and Classic Gaming Systems. [http://www. classicgaming.com/museum/] Accessed December.

  • Coover R. (1993) Hyperfiction: Novels for the Computer. The New York Times Book Review, August 29, pp. 1, 8–12.

  • Dill K., Dill J. (1998) Video Game Violence: A Review of the Empirical Literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 3/4, pp. 407–428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hafner K., Lyon M. (1996) Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet. Simon & Shuster, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Landow G.P. (1992) Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLuhan M. (1964) Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison M. (1994) TheMagic of Interactive Entertainment. Sams Publishing, Indianapolis, Indiana.

    Google Scholar 

  • Provenzo E.F. (1991) Video Kids: Making Sense of Nintendo. Harvard University Press, Cambridge Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall N. (1988) Determining Literariness In Interactive Fiction. Computers and the Humanities, 22/3, pp. 183–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renear A. (1995) Understanding hyper(Media): Required Readings. Computers and the Humanities, 29, pp. 389–40

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Humanities Computing Centre, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4M2

    Geoffrey Rockwell

Authors
  1. Geoffrey Rockwell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rockwell, G. Gore Galore: Literary Theory and Computer Games. Computers and the Humanities 36, 345–358 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016174116399

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016174116399

Search

Navigation