Leiden University Student Repository

Baldwin Quintanilla, Jon (2020)

Subtle persuasion: The role of absence and impossibility in war videogames.

Master thesis | Political Science (MSc)

War videogames support and reproduce neo-imperialist rhetoric and world views. Videogames, due to their interactive nature, differ from any other cultural product and allow the consumer (player) to actively participate in the embedded narratives present in any game. In the following thesis, interviews with members of the military have been carried out and five videogames have been considered in the analysis (America’s Army: Proving Grounds, Airman Challenge, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Battlefield 3 and Arma 3). Through a Gramscian approach, benefiting from concepts such as hegemony and persuasion and the understanding of ideas as material forces, and the use of audiovisual methods, the research has explored the role of absence and impossibility in the reproduction of hegemonic worldviews in war videogames.

videogames

military

propaganda

Gramsci

persuasion

fake-realism

absence

impossibility

Author

Baldwin Quintanilla, Jon

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict and Development

Supervisors

Ragazzi, F.
Zwart, F. de

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en