Transformations of Environmental Storytelling in Contemporary Literature and Video Games
18 Jan 2024, 6 - 8 pm, only via Zoom
Transformations of Environmental Storytelling in Contemporary Literature and Video Games
Prof. Dr. Marco Caracciolo (University of Gent)
My talk addresses the gap between two meanings of the phrase "environmental storytelling." In video game studies, environmental storytelling refers to the way in which game spaces can evoke narrative by scattering physical clues or media artifacts (audio or video recordings, various documents, etc.). By contrast, in fields including ecocriticism and econarratology the term environmental storytelling is more likely to denote factual or fictional stories foregrounding the "natural," nonhuman environment. Examining games such as Control (Remedy Entertainment 2019) and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo 2023), the paper discusses the unique possibilities of digital gameplay in evoking environmental transformation and disruption through spatial stories. Moreover, the paper explores how game experience can disclose new ways of approaching literary narrative's engagement with dramatically shifting nonhuman environments.
Please register here:
https://uni-wuppertal.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Itf-igqjMtGNTZas_e5v59SBYeBDB2-frv
