I’ll be sharing my research on political affect in games, by kind invitation of Raiford Guins and The Media School at Indiana U. Bloomington, as part of the Voices in Cultural Studies series. Thanks @GuinsRaiford and @IUMediaSchool
Friday, February 18, 2022, 12:40 PM – 1:40 PM EST
For more info and Zoom link access:
https://cstudies.indiana.edu/events/021822-Murray.html
No Country For Old Tropes: Representation and Political Affect in Red Dead Redemption II
Rockstar’s iconic western-themed action adventure series, Red Dead (2004- ), is typically discussed in terms of its visual realism, historical authenticity, or how it engages with quintessential American cultural mythologies. It is often debated whether the games ultimately critique or reinforce of those values expressed within their universes. In this presentation, Murray articulates how the game’s aesthetics, appropriation of the Western genre, as well as its space and time-based experience, all contribute to a concentrated political affect that engages with an American political present—and perhaps even its potential futures. Enhancing a growing game studies discourse on inclusivity, this research further develops Murray’s visual studies of playable representation, grounded in an understanding of form as deeply enmeshed in identity politics, not separate from it.
SORAYA MURRAY 