The mythic scope of journey: a comparative assessment concerning the spirit at play and cybernetic shamanism
Video games yield some of the most immersive virtual experiences of mythos today. They render, conceive and engage in a shared heritage of symbols and images drawn from world stories, mythical tropes, creatures, and environments. Thatgamecompany’s Journey has recently emerged as a concise expression...
| Published in: | Online - Heidelberg journal of religions on the internet |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Heidelberg University Publishing
2014
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| In: |
Online - Heidelberg journal of religions on the internet
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| Further subjects: | B
Shamanism
B Simulation B video game B Narrative B Mythology B hero’s journey B Journey B Motif |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Video games yield some of the most immersive virtual experiences of mythos today. They render, conceive and engage in a shared heritage of symbols and images drawn from world stories, mythical tropes, creatures, and environments. Thatgamecompany’s Journey has recently emerged as a concise expression of this impulse to keep myth innovative, and gaming evocative. Working towards unraveling layers of motifs, I will approach Journey as a cybertext and mythic text, drawing on works ranging from philosophical treatises, poetry, sacred narratives and shamanism for comparative analysis. My initial task is to establish the video game as a participatory rendering of the Hero’s Journey, while then breaking the cycle into individual components of motifs, themes and mythemes to parse the discourse of Journey’s exposition. I then argue for Journey’s ongoing engagement with reimagining the gaming experience through a commitment to synergistic immersion in a myth-minded environment. |
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| ISSN: | 1861-5813 |
| Contains: | In: Online - Heidelberg journal of religions on the internet
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-rel-121769 URN: 10.11588/rel.2014.0.12176 URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-rel-121769 |