Online symposium
August 5th – 12:00-17:00PM GMT
The power of the fantasy increases if it offers us something genuinely
new and compelling. The limitations of our own corporeality can be abolished or
the ground rules changed to give us new experiences.”
Kathryn Hume, Fantasy and Mimesis
Given the effect that Covid-19 has had on the University of Glasgow and
on all of us, Digital Heroisms will be moving online. It will be hosted in the
world of Gielinor, in Runescape, to embody the spirit of Digital Heroism by
connecting scholars from across the globe to exchange research in a Fantasy
world.
Digital Heroisms is an online conference exploring Fantasy, the digital
and the concept of heroism in collaboration with the Games and Gaming Lab based
at UofG College of Arts, University of Glasgow School of Critical Studies and
Game Studies at Glasgow.
Where readers once understood heroism through a Gilgamesh, a Frodo or a
Katniss, the digital subject can now figure heroism through actions, decisions
and events that are in many ways their own. Video gaming has an especial talent
for creating heroes that are lived-through by their users, whether this is via
the experience of leading characters such as Link through the temples of
Hyrule; via choice-based play utilising avatars such as Frisk of Undertale
fame; or by creating entirely unique personas in role play games such as Dragon
Age. In a contemporary moment enabled and mediated by a multiplicity of digital
spaces, the way we conceptualize heroism will be both enabled and contaminated
by games, the virtual, and ever-increasing screentime. The realm of the
digital, functioning as a receptacle of imagination can equip players with the
means to express the self. Digital spaces can serve as a conduit for both ludic
and fantastical impulses. Heroic research must adapt to this interactive
environment – its places, its communities, its values – if it is to keep a handle
on the heroic constellation formed of informatic, computational and digital
materials.
Fantasy scholars and authors alike have sought to define the Fantasy
genre. Whether that be as experienced by characters as ‘hesitation’ (Todorov,
1970), a loose genre that can be described as a ‘fuzzy set’ (Attebery, 1992),
or as being ‘the mirror of mimetic literature and its inner soul’ (Mendlesohn,
2008), digital iterations of fantasy have enhanced and extended our capability
to experience the immersion of fantastic worlds. Though Fantasy video games may
pay tribute to the literature from which it sprang, each form with its
differing modes of performance allows the Fantastic an opportunity be presented
in all of its heterogeneity; players are given the opportunity to experience a
new kind of protagonism, a heroism that enables the player to effect and
interact with fantasy narratives. The interactivity offered by video games can
enable players to experience the self in new ways, whether that be through
choice-based narratives, the player-led exploration of a Walking-Simulator or
via avatars which enable players to live the ‘posthuman fantasy of extending
the human subject beyond itself’ (Boulter, 2015) and craft fantasy personas.
The symposium will be seeking submissions for 15 min papers accompanying
creative workshops (1 hour) on themes such as, but not limited to, the
following topics:
- Defining/constructing digital heroism
- The converging interests of fantasy and digital heroism
- Digital and fantastic video game environments and their effect on heroism
- Fantasy video games and avatar creation
- Fantastic VR experiences, the self, and digital heroism
- The social/theoretical implications of digital iterations of fantasy
- Considerations of digital spaces as fantastic ones
- Heroic fantasy video game character(istics)
- Considerations of what heroism means in the digital age
- Problems with digital heroism
- Digital heroism examined through:
- Convergence culture
- Participatory culture
- Feminism
- Postcolonialism
- Queer Studies
- Disability Studies
We are reopening the call for papers from today, with an amended
deadline of July 8th.
The conference itself will take place on August 5th.
As the conference is now online, we would like to take the time to make
sure that it is accessible as possible and can now offer support for people
with impairments, which include reading papers on their behalf, using
text-based Q&A, editing help for those with English as a second language
and limited technical support.
We hope that this change in direction will make Digital Heroisms a more
inclusive and international than ever!
Modifying the format has allowed us some new and exciting opportunities
to experiment with locations:
- Conference papers and discussions will now take place on discord which will feature breakout and discussion groups as well as a Q&A channel for those with any queries about the day. Please join us at this link.
- As mentioned above, we will be holding a virtual meeting in the free MMORPG Runescape, for those able to attend. The exact location (tbd - we are open to suggestions) and a tutorial for the installation of the game will be released close to the time. We ask both speakers and attendees to make their Runescape characters at least a week beforehand and to send their character information to Digitalheroisms@gmail.com for invitations.
Please see the links below for vital information:
- To register for the event
- Facebook: for updates, announcements and memes.
- Our website, currently under construction.
- Instagram: behind the scenes content.
- Join our discord server to take part in the Digital Heroisms Community and to attend the event.
- Digitalheroisms@gmail.com: email us your submissions and queries.
Submission guidelines
Digital Heroisms will run with the view to contributing a special issue
to the student video game journal Press Start. We encourage speakers to submit
their drafted proposal to the organising committee after the conference (date
TBD). Please see the Press Start website for the submission guidelines and style guide.
Please submit your paper as a 250 word abstract and 100 word bio to
digitalheroisms@gmail.com by July 8th.
We look forward to receiving your contributions to Digital Heroisms!
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