The Game Cultures cluster is BCMCR’s response to the growing field of Game Studies. Our research takes a range of perspectives to the study of both digital and non-digital games in contemporary and historical contexts.
We are interested in the textual qualities of games, and their paratextual and metatextual surrounds; in players/gamers, the discussions they have about games and their productive responses in relation to them; and in the games industry, and the political and cultural institutions which create the landscape within which games are created, played and understood. Our cluster incorporates people and approaches from Game Studies and Media Studies, but also from other research units at BCU – including Education, English Language and Literature, Psychology, and Art and Design – as well as from fields such as Historical Studies and Fan Studies.
The main themes emerging from our work at present concern historical game studies; the practices of players as fans; the textuality of (video)games; player narratives and play experience; national/transnational representation; and adaptation and localisation. In addition, the different intellectual dimensions within the cluster create a productive tension between humanist and post-humanist approaches which reinforce the quality of our work.
The cluster is led by Nick Webber and Charlotte Stevens.
Areas of activity:
- Historical game studies
- Video game narratives and adaptation
- History and (video)game communities, including fan cultures
- Video games and cultural policy
- Textuality of games
- Games and national/transnational identity
- Posthumanism and video games