Read more
What are the characteristic features of avatar-based singleplayer videogames, from Super Mario Bros. to Grand Theft Auto? Rune Klevjer examines this question with a particular focus on issues of fictionality and realism, and their relation to cinema and Virtual Reality. Through close-up analysis and philosophical discussion, Klevjer argues that avatar-based gaming is a distinctive and dominant form of virtual self-embodiment in digital culture. This book is a revised edition of Rune Klevjer's pioneering work from 2007, featuring a new introduction by the author and afterword by Stephan Günzel, Jörg Sternagel, and Dieter Mersch.
About the author
Stephan Günzel (Prof. Dr.) lehrt Medien- und Kulturtheorie an der University of Europe (Berlin).Jörg Sternagel (Dr. phil. habil.) arbeitet als Akademischer Rat am Lehrstuhl für Medienkulturwissenschaft mit dem Schwerpunkt Digitale Kulturen an der Universität Passau. Er ist Mitglied im Beirat der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Ästhetik. Seine Forschungsschwerpunkte sind Alterität, Bildlichkeit, Medialität und Performativität.Dieter Mersch, Emeritierter Professor für Ästhetik und Theorie an der Zürcher Hochschule der Künste und bis 2021 Präsident der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Ästhetik.
Summary
What are the characteristic features of avatar-based singleplayer videogames, from Super Mario Bros. to Grand Theft Auto? Rune Klevjer examines this question with a particular focus on issues of fictionality and realism, and their relation to cinema and Virtual Reality. Through close-up analysis and philosophical discussion, Klevjer argues that avatar-based gaming is a distinctive and dominant form of virtual self-embodiment in digital culture. This book is a revised edition of Rune Klevjer's pioneering work from 2007, featuring a new introduction by the author and afterword by Stephan Günzel, Jörg Sternagel, and Dieter Mersch.
Report
»Klevjer's dissertation is still an important and readable work which, despite its comprehensible language and excellent readability does not lose any of its complexity and still a fundamental work on avatar-based games.«
Markus Spöhrer, MEDIENwissenschaft, 3 (2024), translated from German 20240826
