"Through a Glass, Darkly": The (Im)possibility of Detection in The Black Mirror

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F46747885%3A24510%2F19%3A00007365" target="_blank" >RIV/46747885:24510/19:00007365 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://ebooks.americanaejournal.hu/books/crime-and-detection-2/" target="_blank" >https://ebooks.americanaejournal.hu/books/crime-and-detection-2/</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

"Through a Glass, Darkly": The (Im)possibility of Detection in The Black Mirror

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

In recent years, narratology has mostly been dubbed an outdated approach in computer game studies by the more fashionable schools of ludology, player-response aesthetics, semiotic analysis and fanbase sociology. While, indeed, in many games there is little or no story (cf. Pac-Man or Solitaire), and in others there is rather a narrative potential than a full-fledged narrative, some games can be considered as playable texts, with varying levels of emphasis on the playable or the textual aspect. Many point-and-click adventures, for example, have a strongly predetermined story (cf. Broken Sword), providing a counterpoint to essentially storyless games, and to games where the player has almost unlimited agency in creating her own story (cf. GTA Vice City or The Sims). In my chapter, I focus on the Czech computer game Black Mirror (Posel smrti), and show how it destabilizes the classical detective story through a clever manipulation of the player’s expectations. While at first the playable character, Samuel Gordon, seems to be a typical case of the classical detective, the implied reader’s/player’s expectations are constantly thwarted as he progressively turns into an anti-detective. The game’s narrative effectively questions and undermines the feasibility of empirical observation and logical deduction as methods of detection, the moral and psychological integrity of the detective, and the borderline between detective and murderer. Rather than ending in reassurance, solution and catharsis, the player is alienated from the character she controlled and identified with, and is left to her own devices in making sense of what she has experienced. By doing so, my chapter not only shows that it is possible to fruitfully apply a narratological approach to computer game analysis, but also that even if players typically expect to have a happy ending (since they want to “win” the game), the medium of computer games allows for more complex and (post)modern stories.

Název v anglickém jazyce

"Through a Glass, Darkly": The (Im)possibility of Detection in The Black Mirror

Popis výsledku anglicky

In recent years, narratology has mostly been dubbed an outdated approach in computer game studies by the more fashionable schools of ludology, player-response aesthetics, semiotic analysis and fanbase sociology. While, indeed, in many games there is little or no story (cf. Pac-Man or Solitaire), and in others there is rather a narrative potential than a full-fledged narrative, some games can be considered as playable texts, with varying levels of emphasis on the playable or the textual aspect. Many point-and-click adventures, for example, have a strongly predetermined story (cf. Broken Sword), providing a counterpoint to essentially storyless games, and to games where the player has almost unlimited agency in creating her own story (cf. GTA Vice City or The Sims). In my chapter, I focus on the Czech computer game Black Mirror (Posel smrti), and show how it destabilizes the classical detective story through a clever manipulation of the player’s expectations. While at first the playable character, Samuel Gordon, seems to be a typical case of the classical detective, the implied reader’s/player’s expectations are constantly thwarted as he progressively turns into an anti-detective. The game’s narrative effectively questions and undermines the feasibility of empirical observation and logical deduction as methods of detection, the moral and psychological integrity of the detective, and the borderline between detective and murderer. Rather than ending in reassurance, solution and catharsis, the player is alienated from the character she controlled and identified with, and is left to her own devices in making sense of what she has experienced. By doing so, my chapter not only shows that it is possible to fruitfully apply a narratological approach to computer game analysis, but also that even if players typically expect to have a happy ending (since they want to “win” the game), the medium of computer games allows for more complex and (post)modern stories.

Druh

C - Kapitola v odborné knize

CEP obor

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OECD FORD obor

50802 - Media and socio-cultural communication

Projekt

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Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2019

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

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

Název knihy nebo sborníku

Crime and Detection in Contemporary Culture

ISBN

9786155423512

Počet stran výsledku

14

Strana od-do

108-121

Počet stran knihy

145

Název nakladatele

Americana eBooks

Místo vydání

Szeged

Kód UT WoS kapitoly

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