Las huellas históricas del videojuego. La estructura espacial y los personajes femeninos en los videojuegos basados en la mitología nórdica.
Historical vestiges of video games.
Author
Summary, in English
This is a study of the spatial structure in relation to female characters within video games with Nordic mythological themes. The understanding of space and its structure starts with an under-standing of the people who are creat-ing and constructing it. The study involves their beliefs, their social relations and their urban infrastructure and their correspondence to the Nordic mythology.
When looking at the Nordic pre-Middle Ages history, we find that the women had a key position during the Viking Age, namely being in charge of the home, the so called ‘gård’. Not a very surprising task, one might think, but nevertheless interesting when studying their mythology. Vikings explained and understood life and death through a centralistic structure. In this structure the ‘gård’ was the absolute centre of the universe, giving the women governing it, extreme power.
However, the Nordic mythology, as a direct reflection of the Viking Age society, is a very complex example, and the female mythological characters are no exception. Still they are highly part of our collective unconsciousness and continually build our ideal archetypes. What can we learn, (or preferably; re-learn) in the making of videogames, when working with these fundamental understandings of space and social gender structures?
When looking at the Nordic pre-Middle Ages history, we find that the women had a key position during the Viking Age, namely being in charge of the home, the so called ‘gård’. Not a very surprising task, one might think, but nevertheless interesting when studying their mythology. Vikings explained and understood life and death through a centralistic structure. In this structure the ‘gård’ was the absolute centre of the universe, giving the women governing it, extreme power.
However, the Nordic mythology, as a direct reflection of the Viking Age society, is a very complex example, and the female mythological characters are no exception. Still they are highly part of our collective unconsciousness and continually build our ideal archetypes. What can we learn, (or preferably; re-learn) in the making of videogames, when working with these fundamental understandings of space and social gender structures?
Department/s
Publishing year
2010
Language
Spanish
Pages
241-255
Publication/Series
ICONO 14
Volume
A5
Links
Document type
Conference paper
Publisher
ICONO 14, Actas del I Congreso Internacional de Videojuego. No.A5, pp.241-255. Madrid. Spain.
Topic
- Cultural Studies
Keywords
- videogames
- mythology
- heroes
- space
- vikings
- gender
Conference name
I Congreso Internacional de Videojuegos
Conference date
0001-01-02
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1697-8293