THE TABOOS of GAME STUDIES Edited by Kristine Jørgensen & Riccardo Fassone
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ISSN 2280-7705 The Italian Journal www.gamejournal.it Associazione Culturale LUDICA of Game Studies Games as Art, Media, Entertainment Issue 09, 2020 – volume 1 JOURNAL (PEER-REVIEWED) THE TABOOS OF GAME STUDIES Edited by Kristine Jørgensen & Riccardo Fassone GAME JOURNAL – Peer-Reviewed Section Issue 09 – 2020 GAME Journal Games as Art, Media, Entertainment G|A|M|E is an international, peer-reviewed, free access games studies journal. G|A|M|E publishes one monographic issue per year A PROJECT BY SUPERVISING EDITORS Associazione Culturale LUDICA Antioco Floris (Università di Cagliari), Roy Menarini (Università di Bologna), Peppino Ortoleva (Università di Torino), Reggio Calabria IT & London UK Leonardo Quaresima (Università di Udine). HQ: Via Vittorio Veneto 33 89123 Reggio Calabria, IT Offices: 64 Colley House EDITORS London UB8 2NZ, UK Marco Benoît Carbone (Brunel University, London), Giovanni Caruso (Independent researcher), Riccardo Fassone (Università di Torino), Gabriele Ferri (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences), Ivan Girina (Brunel University, In association with filmforumfestival.it London), Federico Giordano (Università per Stranieri di Perugia), Ilaria Mariani (Politecnico di Milano), Valentina Paggiarin (Hive Division), Paolo Ruffino (University of Liverpool), Mauro Salvador (Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia), Marco Teti (Università eCampus). WITH THE PATRONAGE OF Università di Cagliari ADVISORY BOARD Dipartimento di Storia, Beni Culturali e Territorio Espen Aarseth (IT University of Copenaghen), Matteo Bittanti (IULM Milano), Jay David Bolter (Georgia Institute of Technology), Gordon C. Calleja (University of Malta), Gianni Canova (IULM, Milano), Antonio Catolfi (Università PARTNERS per Stranieri di Perugia), Mia Consalvo (Concordia University, Montreal), Patrick Coppock (Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia), Ruggero Eugeni (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano), Roy Menarini (Università di Bologna), Enrico Menduni (Universitas Mercatorum, Roma), Bernard Perron (Université de Montreal), Guglielmo Pescatore (Università di Bologna), Leonardo Quaresima (Università di Udine), Jose P. Zagal (University of Utah). EDITORIAL BOARD Marco Benoît Carbone BOARD OF REVIEWERS Riccardo Fassone Francesco Alinovi (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Milano), Alessandro Amaducci (Università di Torino), Aubrey Anable Federico Giordano (Carleton University), Francesca Antonacci (Universita’ di Milano la Bicocca), Thomas Apperley (University of Tampere), Ivan Girina Ilaria Mariani Simone Arcagni (Università di Palermo), Stefano Baschiera (Queen’s University, Belfast), Pena Bedesem (Kent State Marco Teti University), Elena Bertozzi (Quinnipiac University), Enrico Biasin (Independent Scholar), Giovanni Boccia Artieri (Università di Urbino), Roberto Braga (Independent Researher), Alberto Brodesco (Università di Trento), Vanessa DISTRIBUTION Camilleri (University of Malta), Domenico Carzo † (Università di Messina), Edward Castronova (Indiana University), All GAME issues are available Alessandro Catania (Independent Researcher), Alessio Ceccherelli (Università Tor Vergata, Roma), Marco Centorrino for viewing and download at (Università di Messina), Giovanna Cosenza (Università di Bologna), Lorenzo Denicolai (Università di Torino), Francesco www.gamejournal.it Di Chiara (Università eCampus), Ludovica Fales (University College London), Mariagrazia Fanchi (Università Cattolica di ISSN 2280-7705 Milano), Matthew D. Farber (University of Northern Colorado), Riccardo Fedriga (Università di Bologna), Mary Flanagan (Dartmouth College), Giuseppe Frazzetto (Accademia di Belle Arti di Catania), Robert Gallagher (Royal Holloway, ETHICAL STATEMENT University of London), Alexander R. Galloway (New York University), Mario Gerosa (Indipendent Scholar), Stefano https://www.gamejournal.it/about Gualeni (University of Malta), Andra Ivanescu (Brunel University, London), Selma Kadi (University of Tübingen), Aphra Kerr (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Massimo Locatelli (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano), Giulio COPYRIGHT Lughi (Università di Torino), Diego Malara (Italian Job Studio), Sara Martin (Università di Parma), Agata Meneghelli (Edra ISSUE 9, vol. 1 – 2020 © 2020 SPA), Stuart Moulthrop (University of Wisconsin), Daniel Muriel (Independent Researcher), Giacomo Nencioni (Università della Tuscia), Michael Nitsche (Georgia Institute of Technology), Costantino Oliva (University of Malta), LAYOUT & EDITION Vanessa Ossa (Universität zu Köln), Elena Pacetti (Università di Bologna), Roberta Pearson (University of Nottingham), Design Manager: Ilaria Mariani Gianfranco Pecchinenda (Università Federico II, Napoli), Michael Piggott (University of Warwick), Cristiano Poian Managing Editor: Marco Benoît Carbone (Gilead Sciences), Domenico Quaranta (Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara), Valentina Re (Link Campus University, Roma), Luca Rosati (IULM, Milano), Rino Schembri (Università di Palermo), Miguel Sicart (IT University of Copenhagen), COVER ART Valerio Sillari (Independent Researcher), Antonio Somaini (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3), Olli Sotamaa Screenshot from Wolfenstein II: The New (University of Tampere), Matteo Tarantino (Università Cattolica, Milano), Simone Tosoni (Università Cattolica del Sacro Colossus © Bethesda Softworks Cuore, Milano), Alberto Venditti (Unit9), Michelle Westerlaken (University of Malmö), Lukas Wilde (University of bethesda.net Tübingen), Pierantonio Zanotti (Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia), Federico Zecca (Università di Bari). CONTACT PROOF-READING (ISSUE 9) [email protected] Kristine Jørgensen & Riccardo Fassone www.gamejournal.it www.facebook.com/gamejournal www.twitter.com/gameitjournal Issue 09 – 2020 Contents THE TABOOS OF GAME STUDIES Edited by Kristine Jørgensen & Riccardo Fassone ISSUE 9, 2020: VOLUME 1 – PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL JOURNAL ESSAYS 5 Kristine Jørgensen & Riccardo Fassone Introduction: Locating the Taboos of Game Studies 11 Frans Mäyrä Game Culture Studies and the Politics of Scholarship: The Opposites and the Dialectic 33 Aaron Trammell Torture, Play, and the Black Experience 51 Eugen Pfister & Martin Tschiggerl “The Führer’s facial hair and name can also be reinstated in the virtual world”. Taboos, Authenticity and the Second World War in digital game 71 Thomasz Z. Majkowski & Katarzyna Suszkiewicz Cardboard Genocide. Board Game Design as a Tool in Holocaust Education 91 Hanna Wirman & Rhys Jones Invading Space? On perceived risk and doing research in game arcades Issue 09 – 2020 Journal –Peer Reviewed KRISTINE JØRGENSEN University of Bergen [email protected] Introduction & RICCARDO FASSONE University of Torino Locating the Taboos [email protected] of Game Studies Source: Screenshot from Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. What are the taboos of game studies, and is it even possible to identify taboos in a highly interdisciplinary field like game studies? And how are games and game studies tackling topics that are considered cultural or social taboos? This special issue is taking a stab at these questions, tracing both the disciplinary controver- sies of our field, as well as debating specific taboo topics and the theoretical and methodological approaches through which they have been addressed. This collection discusses taboos in game studies, ranging from research into taboo subjects to the taboo methods and approaches. Game studies is still a young field, and while specific paradigms may not have yet settled, it is likely that the areas that are deemed taboo for researchers with different disciplinary backgrounds will contribute to crystallize certain research paradigms or shift the focus of inquiry on specific issues. In this volume, we aim to tease out the taboos of game studies by looking at subjects and fields that researchers dare Kristine Jørgensen & Riccardo Fassone https://www.gamejournal.it/intro-taboos 5 Issue 09 – 2020 Introduction not venture into, and by studying how games treat topics that are commonly believed to be inappropriate for games and play. We also discuss scholarship that relates to other societal taboos, such as research projects involving peo- ple associated with criminal environments. We hope that this collection will contribute to a better understanding of the field of game studies by providing insight into topics that are rarely addressed but potentially create large divisive gaps between research traditions in game studies. According to dictionary definitions, a taboo can be understood as “a prohibi- tion imposed by social custom or as a protective measure” (Merriam-Webster, 2019). Taboos are topics or acts that are off limits, often for reasons based in social conduct, convention, or norm and associated with morality; in most cas- es these are unspoken agreements and expectations that one has come to learn through socialization and engagement with a community. Although there are certain taboos that appear to be virtually universal and thus also implemented into the juridical system, such as incest, cannibalism, and murder, taboos are also changing with culture and time (Lambek, 2001). Taboos can be found in all parts of society and guide our practices in many ways. In research, talking about taboos may seem counterintuitive as an ideal common to all research is a fundamentally critical disposition where researchers question assumptions and accepted truths in order to understand a phenomenon as thoroughly as possible. In cases where there is disagreement about the inter- pretation of data or the phenomenology of