Women in Classical Video Games

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Women in Classical Video Games

Design, Industrial and commercial arts, illustration Ancient history Gender studies: women and girls Computer games / online games: strategy guides

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Collection: IMAGINES – Classical Receptions in the Visual and Performing Arts

Language: English

Published by: Bloomsbury Academic

Published on: 11th August 2022

Format: LCP-protected ePub

Size: 288 pages

ISBN: 9781350241947


Introduction

Despite the prevalence of video games set in or inspired by classical antiquity, the medium has to date remained markedly understudied in the disciplines of classics and ancient history, with the role of women in these video games especially neglected. Women in Classical Video Games seeks to address this imbalance as the first book-length work of scholarship to examine the depiction of women in video games set in classical antiquity.

Content Overview

The volume surveys the history of women in these games and the range of figures presented from the 1980s to the present, alongside discussion of issues such as historical accuracy, authenticity, gender, sexuality, monstrosity, hegemony, race and ethnicity, and the use of tropes. A wide range of games of different types and modes are discussed, including platformers, strategy games, roguelikes, MOBA, action RPGs, and story-driven romance mobile games.

Significance

The detailed case studies presented here form a compelling case for the indispensability of the medium to both reception studies and gender studies, and offer nuanced answers to such questions as how and why women are portrayed in the ways that they are.

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