Contested Memories of War in Czechoslovakia 38-89: Assassination: Designing a Serious Game on Contemporary History

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11210%2F16%3A10332497" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11210/16:10332497 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="http://gamestudies.org/1602/articles/sisler" target="_blank" >http://gamestudies.org/1602/articles/sisler</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Contested Memories of War in Czechoslovakia 38-89: Assassination: Designing a Serious Game on Contemporary History

Original language description

This article critically discusses the possibilities and limitations of videogames in dealing with contentious and emotionally-charged issues from contemporary history, in particular civilian perspectives on war and the trauma therefrom. In doing so, it briefly examines how history and war are represented in mainstream videogames and, subsequently, how these dominant frames of representation are challenged and refashioned within the emerging genre of historical serious games. Regarding the latter, this article focuses on a case study of Czechoslovakia 38-89: Assassination, a serious game on contemporary history, which we developed in 2015 at Charles University and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. It specifically examines how the Czech historical memory of World War II is presented via the game and it critically discusses design challenges stemming from adapting real persons' - oftentimes ethically-and emotionally-loaded - testimonies in order to construct in-game narratives. In particular, the article discusses the intersections and tensions between authenticity and fiction, realism and schematization, and narrative and procedure. Finally, the article critically investigates the perception and acceptance of Czechoslovakia 38-89: Assassination by Czech teachers and students, as well as the general public in the Czech Republic. To this end, it analyzes how the game's meaning potential is disseminated to and negotiated by concrete audiences in different contexts of reception.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_x - Unclassified - Peer-reviewed scientific article (Jimp, Jsc and Jost)

CEP classification

AJ - Literature, mass media, audio-visual activities

OECD FORD branch

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Project

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Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach<br>I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2016

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Game Studies [online]

ISSN

1604-7982

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

16

Issue of the periodical within the volume

2

Country of publishing house

DK - DENMARK

Number of pages

34

Pages from-to

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UT code for WoS article

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EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85010955736