[Commlist] CFP: Edited Collection on Subversive Gaming

*Call for Book Chapters: /Subversive Gaming /*


We are seeking chapter contributions for an edited volume on the topic 
of subversion in games and gaming culture as part of the /Games in 
Context/ Series.


Tanenbaum (2013) notes that video game players are often positioned by 
designers as “agents of chaos” that are resistant towards pre-authored 
narratives and architectures. While this description is overly 
simplistic and does not account for the diverse, context-dependent, and 
sometimes contradictory goals that motivate play, it does speak to the 
importance of the element of subversion in both video games and video 
game cultures. Both with regards to underlying code and representational 
norms, players have long been invested to some degree in making “a 
mockery of the author’s intentions” (Aarseth, 2004): Modding kits and 
associated modding communities have been integral to gaming subcultures 
since the early 1980s (Voorhes, 2014); speedrunners and “glitch hunters” 
“revel” in disregarding designers’ operational assumptions about how 
players could or should interact with intelligently designed digital 
spaces (Hemmingsen, 2021, 447); queer, feminist, and critical race 
reimaginations of games and have long deployed strategies of 
transgressive play to illuminate and disrupt normative assumptions about 
the “ideal player” (e.g. Gray, 2012; Schleiner, 2001; Sunden, 2009; 
Ruberg, 2019).


Games, as computational systems that create simulated systems through 
narratives and mechanics (Bogost, 2007), are deeply concerned with 
dynamics of boundedness and freedom. The nature of play can be 
understood as something that pushes up against (and in some cases, 
threatens) the power of the game as a world and as a structure of 
meaning(s) and knowledge(s). Viewed this way, subversion is a central 
consideration when it comes to understanding video games as an artistic 
medium and social experience. Subversion in gaming leads inexorably to 
questions of power; the power to define meanings, values and truths in 
both digital and non digital gaming worlds.


As diverse forms of media and communication technologies become 
increasingly “gamified,” understanding dynamics of subversion and 
alterity becomes imperative in order to account for emerging dynamics of 
domination and resistance across media landscapes


Thus this book aims to bring together diverse projects that engage with 
subversion in relation to games and gaming cultures.


The peer reviewed book will be published as part of the Games in Context 
Series at Palgrave <https://link.springer.com/series/16027/books>.

This series asks us what it means to study, critique, and create games 
in context. Titles in this series include /Feminism in Play/ 
<https://www.springer.com/book/9783319905389>//(Edited by Kishonna L. 
Gray, Gerald Voorhees, Emma Vossen) and /Queerness in Play/ 
<https://www.springer.com/book/9783319905419>//(Edited by Todd Harper, 
Meghan Blythe Adams and Nicholas Taylor).

No payment will be required from authors.


*Book Editors:*

  * Dr. Aparajita Bhandari, Assistant Professor of Critical Digital
    Studies, University of Waterloo, Canada
  * Sara Bimo, PhD student in Communication and Culture, York
    University, Canada

*What we’re looking for: *

We invite academics, researchers, students and industry experts to 
submit book chapter proposals that address, but are not limited to, the 
following topics:

 1. The potential (or lack thereof) of games in subverting patterns of
    globalization and colonial power, hegemonic political systems,
    ideologies, or structures of power
 2. Analysis of how games and/or players can subvert traditional
    expectations of gender and sexuality
 3. Subversive labor practices within the video game, esports and
    livestreaming industries
 4. Gamification of everyday life
 5. Investigating how games can act as a medium for societal critique,
    addressing issues such as inequality, race, class, and
    discrimination or alternatively the limitations of the games
    industry in enacting such critiques
 6. The subversive potential of in-game art, sound design, and narrative
    structure and gaming environments
 7. *T*he role of player agency in subversive gaming, including choices
    that challenge ethical, moral, or societal norms.
 8. The impact of controversial games, censorship, and the boundaries of
    free expression in gaming and gamer communities
 9. Contributions of independent and alternative game developers to
    subversive gaming culture

*Tentative Timeline: *

Submit an abstract to us by: *January 15th, 2024 *

Decisions on abstracts: *January 25th, 2024*

First chapter drafts due by: *July 30th, 2024* (Chapters should be 
between 4000 to 7000 words)

*
*

*How to Apply: *

Interested contributors are asked to submit a 300-500 word (not 
including references) abstract summarizing the chapter background, 
methods, and aims. The submission should also contain the names, 
institution of affiliation, and a short biography of all contributing 
authors and contact details for the corresponding author. For inquiries 
and submissions, please email Dr. Aparajita Bhandari at 
(aparajita.bhandari /at/ uwaterloo.ca) 
<mailto:(aparajita.bhandari /at/ uwaterloo.ca)>. When submitting abstracts 
please put in the subject line “Abstract submission- Subversive Gaming”.

*
*

*References*

Aarseth, E. (2004). Genre trouble. /Electronic book review/, /3/, 1-7.

Bogost, I. (2010). /Persuasive games: The expressive power of 
videogames/. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2007).

Gray, K. L. (2012). Deviant bodies, stigmatized identities, and racist 
acts: Examining the experiences of African-American gamers in Xbox Live. 
/New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia/, /18/(4), 261-276.

Hemmingsen, M. (2021). Code is law: subversion and collective knowledge 
in the ethos of video game speedrunning. /Sport, Ethics and Philosophy/, 
/15/(3), 435-460.

Ruberg, B. (2019). /Video games have always been queer/. NYU Press. NYC, 
New York.

Schleiner, A. M. (2001). Does Lara Croft wear fake polygons? Gender and 
gender-role subversion in computer adventure games. /Leonardo Music 
Journal/, /34/(3), 221-226.

Sundén, J. (2009, September). Play as transgression: An ethnographic 
approach to queer game cultures. In /DiGRA Conference/ (Vol. 7).

Tanenbaum, T. J. (2013). How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the 
Gamer: Reframing Subversive Play in Story-Based Games. In /DiGRA 
Conference/ (Vol. 7).

Voorhees, Gerald (2014). "Chapter 31: Shooting". In Perron, Bernard 
(ed.). The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies. Taylor & Francis. 
pp. 251–258.



---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------