Methods for studying video games and religion 1st edition vit sisler

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Methods for Studying Video Games and Religion 1st Edition Vít Šisler

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Methods for Studying Video Games and Religion

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MethodsforStudyingVideoGamesandReligion

Whileithasbeenmorethanhalfacenturysincethefirstvideogameswerereleased,their academicstudytooktimetoevolve.Butatthelatestsincethe2000s,videogameshave becomeaseriousfieldofresearchwithinthehumanities.Thesteadilyincreasinginterest in studying games is interconnected with the understanding that video games are a branchofpopularcultureandcertainlywithraisingsalesfigures,whichmakegamesa majoreconomicfactorwithintheentertainmentindustry.In2014,morethan1.7billion people played games worldwide and spent 77 billion dollars on hard- and software (Burke2014).Inhisfamousmanifesto,gametheoristEricZimmerman(2013)goesasfar as to declare the twenty-first century a “ludic century.” According to Zimmerman, the twentiethcenturywasacenturyoflinear,non-interactiveinformationwiththemoving image(filmandvideo)asdominantculturalform.Incontrast,inthetwenty-firstcentury, information“hasbeenputatplay.”Mediaandcultureintheludiccenturyarebecoming increasingly “systemic, modular, customizable and participatory” (Zimmerman 2013). Thismeansthatgamesor“experiencesverymuchlikegames”nowreplacelinearmedia, and increasingly shape basically all aspects of a person’s life, such as leisure time, art, design,andentertainment(Zimmerman2013).

Games open new forms of representations as well as communication and serve as platforms for negotiations and constructions of society and culture in general, and of religion in particular. From classic video games such as the Legend of Zelda (Nintendo 1986)tomorerecentreleasessuchas Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft2014),religionplaysanintegral part in these games. Game authors increasingly use mythologies and belief systems as their referents, makingtangible connectionsto the outside world (Šisler 2014). Games with explicitly religious content appear on the market, coming from diverse religious traditionsandbackgroundsandrangingfromproselytizationtoeducationandcultural dialogue.Asaconsequence,gamescanreflect,reject,orreconfigurereligiousideasand

are a source for the construction of religious practices and ideas in modernity (Geraci 2012).

Campbell and Grieve (2014a: 2) argue that video games are an important space for exploring the intersection between religion and contemporary culture. They help us understand how people understand religion and what it means in a changing contemporary society. Echoing the notion of the “ludic century,” Campbell and Grieve contendthatjustasfilmshelpedtoilluminateandexposethereligiosityofthetwentieth century,digitalgamesnowdepictthereligiousworldofthetwenty-firstcentury(Šisler 2017:127).Atthesametime,thestudyofreligionandvideogamesremainsoneofthe most understudied elements in the study of religion and media (Campbell and Grieve 2014a:2).Eventhoughtheresearchonvideogamesandreligionhasproliferatedinthe lastdecade,yieldinganumberofmonographsandeditedvolumesaswellasnumerous book chapters and journal articles, the existing research essentially provides rather anecdotal evidence on the subject matter and varies greatly in aims, subjects, and methods.Asthefieldofvideogamingandreligionexpands,theneedgrowstocritically reflect on the issues of how to study this field in a more organized way, with suitable methods,andtosystematizeanddevelopadequatemethodologicalapproaches.

This volume is intended to contribute to filling this void, theoretically as well as empirically,byinvestigatingpossiblemethodologicalwaysinwhichtheintersectionsof videogames,gaming,andreligioncanbestudied.Itcollects,systematizes,andcritically discusses the application of methods including those established and widely used as well as innovative methods. We understand a method as a systematic, clearly defined, step-by-steptechnique,practice,orapproachappliedtoanalyzeasampleofdatainthe lightofaspecificresearchquestion.Consequentially,eachchapterinthisvolumefocuses on one method, which is presented and discussed in a standardized format. After discussingthetheoreticalbackgroundandsummarizingtheexistingresearch,apractical casestudydemonstratesindetailhowthemethodspecificallycontributestothestudyof video games and religion. A critical discussion highlights the benefits and limits of the respectivemethod.

The Study of Video Games and Religion

Whenlookingattheexistingstudies,itbecomesclearthatthestudyofgamesandreligion encompasses various “core” disciplines, such as religious studies, theology, and, more broadly, cultural studies. But disciplines beyond this scope for example, education, psychology, sociology, and, of course, game studies also take some interest in the interconnection of games and religion. Since the early 2000s, a number of extended publications(editedvolumes,monographs,andspecialjournaleditions)accountforthe broadvarietyoffoci.Thefirsteditedvolume, Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games with God (Detweiler 2010), for example, stays relatively broad; it discusses several video gamesandincludedtheperspectivesofreligiousactors,gamedesigners,andacademics. Later,monographshadmoredetailedfoci,andnotsurprisinglyoftentookupnewgaming genresortrends.Agoodexamplemightbethefocuson Massively Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Games (MMORPGs),whichprevailedinanumberofmonographs,including,for example, Bainbridge’s (2013) eGods: Faith versus Fantasy in Computer Gaming and Geraci’s(2014) Virtually Sacred: Myth and Meaning in World of Warcraft and Second Life.

Anumberofmorerecenteditedvolumesandspecialissuesinjournalsaimatamore comprehensive understanding of video games and religion. First and foremost, the

groundbreaking edited volume Playing with Religion in Digital Games (Campbell and Grieve2014b)offersnewinsightsintothestudyofgamesandreligion.Thespecialonline journal issue, Religion in Digital Games: Multiperspective and Interdisciplinary Approaches (Heidbrink and Knoll 2014) and the follow-up Religion in Digital Games Reloaded: Immersion into the Field (Heidbrink, Knoll and Wysocki 2015a), take up the subject as well. These three volumes aim at structuring and systematizing the still emergingfield,andatcompilingcollectionsincludingnewstudies.

Since2014, theonlinejournal gamevironments hasspecificallycatered tothefield of gamesandreligion.Asthefirstofitskind,itaimsatestablishingandfosteringaplatform for the specific academic discourse around both established approaches to and new frontiers of researching video games and gaming as related to religion, culture, and society. The journal’s title, gamevironments, refers to the fact that researching video games is not limited to established media-centered approaches (Radde-Antweiler, Waltemathe and Zeiler 2014). On the contrary, the “games/gaming” “environments” mustalsobehighlighted,andtheyaresuitablytackledwithactor-centeredapproaches. Theconceptandapproachofgame-vironmentsthuspromotehighlightingtherecipients’ perspective by no longer focusing research on one medium but on the actors in their mediatized (or, more specifically, gametized) worlds. Gamevironments in this understanding consist of both the technical environments of video games/gaming and theculturalenvironmentsofvideogames/gaminginthediverseglobalvideogameand gaming landscape. Explicitly acknowledging the steadily increasing impact of video games’andgaming’sglobalaspectsandactivelyencouragingcontributionsinthisnotyet very established field of investigation in order to establish and maintain a critical dialogue, including perspectives beyond the so-far dominant regional contexts, is yet anotherofthejournal’sdeclaredaims.

Apart from these large publications, several individual journal articles and book chapters ondiverse topics (and featuring diverse approaches and methods) have been published so far. While the scope of these smaller individual contributions goes far beyondanythingthatcanbecoveredinthisintroduction,itseemsrelevanttopointout somemajorthemes.Forexample,onesub-fieldstudiesvideogamesasrelatedtospecific religioustraditions.Illustrative,thoughbynomeansexhaustive,examplesaretheworks ofSchut(2013),Luft(2014),andBosman(2016)ongamesandChristianity;Aupersand Schaap(2015)ongamesandPaganism;Šisler(2014,2009)ongamesandIslam;Gottlieb (2015)andCarrilloMassoandAbrams(2014)ongamesandJudaism;Grieve(2016)on gamesandBuddhism;andZeiler(2016,2014)ongamesandHinduism.

When it comestothemescloselyrelated toreligion, wefindanumberofworksthat discussvideogamesand,e.g.,theconstructionand/ornegotiationofpost-mortalityand the afterlife (Steuter and Wills 2010), othering or orientalism (Trattner 2016; Šisler 2014), ritual (Sapach 2015), conflict (Wagner 2013), or myth and mythology (Krzywinska2008).Anothernotableaspectthathasbeendealtwithistheexperienceof playinggames,i.e.,gaming,inrelationtoreligiouspracticeorreligious/mysticexperience (Anthony 2014; Wagner 2012; Plate 2010). Also, a number of publications that do not focus solely on video games and religion contain some important discussions on the subject(Wagner2012;Bogost2007).

Thementionedstudies(whichareexamplesratherthanconstitutinganexhaustivelist of work in the field or a classical literature review) were pioneering, innovative, and groundbreakingonseverallevels.Manyofthemdiscussedcertainaspectsofgamesand religionfortheveryfirsttimeinacademichistory,and/oradvancedthefieldbyapplying novelapproaches,theoreticalframes,orprovidingnewcasestudymaterial. Then,from

around the mid-2010s onwards, and as the field developed further, it is logically consistentthatincreasinglyeffortshavebeenmadenotonlytoinstitutionalizethestudy ofvideogamingandreligion,butalsotobetterstructureandorganizeit.

Publications dealing with these aspects in detail focus on presenting structured overviews,includingliteraturereviews,onproposingemergingkeyperspectives,and/or discussing existing or new approaches. In 2014, we find a first small wave of such publications. Grieve and Campbell (2014b), in “Studying Religion in Digital Gaming. A Critical Review of an Emerging Field,” present a substantial overview of the field’s genesis.Heidbrink,KnollandWysocki(2014),in“TheorizingReligioninDigitalGames: PerspectivesandApproaches,”proposeideasandapproachesforthestudyofgamesand religion. In the same year, Radde-Antweiler, Waltemathe and Zeiler (2014), in “Video Gaming, Let’s Plays, and Religion: The Relevance of Researching gamevironments,” present and discuss their methodical and theoretical approach and concept of gamevironments, for the first time putting a strong emphasis not only on a suggested approach but also on the consequentially arising methodical implications for practical research

In2015,anumberofpublicationscontinuedthenewtrend.Campbelletal.(2015),in theirjointarticle“GamingReligionworlds:WhyReligiousStudiesShouldPayAttention to Religion in Gaming,” identify several important angles or lenses for studying games and religion: such as four theoretical lenses religion in gaming, religion as gaming, gaming as religion, and gaming in religion (Wagner); elements of play (Luft); a body, gender,andidentityfocusedfeministexamination(Gregory);andanecessaryhistorical and cultural contextualizing of games as popular culture and global perspectives and actor-centered research(Zeiler). Heidbrink, Knolland Wysocki(2015b), in “Venturing intotheUnknown(?)Method(olog)icalReflectionsonReligionandDigitalGames,Gamers and Gaming,” strived to start up methodical discussions. Radde-Antweiler and Zeiler (2015), in “Methods for Analyzing Let’s Plays: Context Analysis for Gaming Videos on YouTube,” present one chosen method in detail and give a step-by-step instruction, applying it to an exemplary case study of a specific gaming genre, namely Let’s Plays. Finally,the2015specialissueof gamevironments editedbyGrieve,Radde-Antweiler,and Zeiler, Current Key Perspectives in Video Gaming and Religion,summarizesthestateofthe artinthefieldinlate2015.

The Approach of This Book: Methodical Plurality and Gamevironments

A few of the publications mentioned above also, more or less briefly, touch upon methodicalissuesinthestudyofgamesandreligion.Butgenerallyspeaking,theresearch methods in particular are often not explicitly and sufficiently described in existing studies. From a broader perspective, there exist many different methodological approachestovideogameanalysis(Aarseth2003;Malliet2007;Fernández-Vara2014; LankoskiandBjörk2015).Recently,twovolumesfocusingspecificallyonthequestionof methodshavebeenpublished. Introduction to Game Analysis (Fernández-Vara2014)isa basic guide to analyzing games using strategies borrowed from textual analysis. The second volume, Game Research Methods: An Overview (Lankoski and Björk 2015) similarlyprovidesanintroductiontovariousgameresearchmethods.Thesetwovolumes areawelcomecontributiontothefield,yettheyremainlargelyintroductoryandmostly

do not provide deeper and critical insight into the respective methods and their theoreticalbackground.

Asthefieldofreligionandvideogamestudiesexpands,sodoestheneedtoinvestigate possible methods through which the intersections between video games and religion specificallycanbestudied.Thecriticalneedforsuchaninvestigationisdrivenbythefact that the selection and use of research methods is fundamentally shaped by research questions and hypotheses. A focus on video games, religion, and methods additionally offers great benefits for various disciplines: research on video games and religion is interdisciplinary per se and offers diverse links to disciplines such as game studies, sociology,mediaandcommunicationstudies,theology,etc.

Many video games play with religious symbols or construct symbolic social and religiousuniverses.Therefore,andnotsurprisingly,manyoftheexistingstudiesinthe fieldofgames,gaming,andreligionfocusedongame-immanentreligiousnarrativesand appliedrespectivemethods.Withourproposedstructure,whichstemsfromtheconcept of gamevironments (Radde-Antweiler, Waltemathe and Zeiler 2014), we aim at transcending this media-centered logic and at ensuring a compatible structure for researchersinthisfieldbytakingthetechnicalenvironmentofvideogamesandgamers aswellasthecultural environmentsofvideogamesand gamingintoconsideration. As already briefly discussed earlier in the section presenting the online journal with the same title, gamevironments is a theoretical and analytical frame based on an actorcenteredapproachthatintegratestheanalysisofvideogamesasdigitalartifactswiththe broaderculturaland socialcontextin whichthesegamesareproduced and consumed. The term was coined by Radde-Antweiler, Waltemathe and Zeiler (2014) in order to present an actor-centered theoretical and analytical concept which “maintains the cultural,theologicalandsocialaspectsofgamecontentandstilltakestheperformative aspects and ludic interaction into account” (Radde-Antweiler, Waltemathe and Zeiler 2014:8).Gamevironmentsconsistoftwolevels:first,thetechnicalenvironmentofvideo gamesandgamers(includingthegameinrelationtotextualandaudiovisualnarratives, interactivityoptionsandin-gameperformance,productionanddesignofthegame,and gamer-generated content) and, second, the cultural environments of video games and gaming (including the social, political, and religious context as well as national regulations and policies). The theoretical frame of gamevironments enables us to investigate the diverse and heterogeneousmethods for studying religion and video gamingand,moreimportantly,tiethesemethodstoacoherentstructure.

Consequently, this volume is organized in terms of approaches to studying different elements of gamevironments, such as game narrative, gamers, audience feedback, rule systems, etc., in relation to religion. Thus, it provides an overview of various game researchmethodscoveringquantitative,qualitative,andmixedmethods.Eachmethodis describedinacoherentchapterbyaresearcherwithpracticalexperienceofapplyingthe methodtotopicsofvideogamesandreligion,asorderedsequencesoffixedstepswhich assist in eliminating bias and other subjective influences in analysis. It is in the very natureofitsthemethatthisvolumeneitherclaimstopresentanexhaustiveselection,nor even an alleged crème de la crème of methods. Very obviously, in any research the requiredmethodsaredefinedbytheresearchquestionsandthepreciseresearchobject. Followingfromthis,amethodicalpluralityisdictatedbythevastscopeofthefieldgames and religion. This vast scope does not ask for a clearly defined bundle of methods, applicabletothewholefieldorevenjustsub-sectionswithinit.Rather,therearemany possiblemethods,andthisvolume’saimistoallowforaglimpseintothisvastpooland toofferastartingpoint,notonlyforprecisemethodsforspecificresearch,butalsofor

reflectionsaboutmethodicalissuesinresearchongamesandreligionmorebroadly.In otherwords:thatapluralityofmethodsisnotonlyfruitfulbutevennecessarytostudy videogamesand religion ispre-defined bythediversecharacteroftheresearchfield’s two major constituents, video games and religion. Both are understood and defined in various ways, by various researchers. While this book applies broad, all-encompassing definitionsofboth,theproposedmethodsarealsoapplicabletomorenarrowordetailed definitions.

The Contents of This Book: Structure and Chapter Overview

This volume’s structure is therefore based on its underlying approaches of methodical pluralityandgamevironments.Thediscussedmethodsarearrangedinfiveparts,eachof themconsistingofonekeythemecomplexofgamevironments.Part1containschapters onmethodsstudyingtextualandaudiovisualnarratives,Part2methodsforresearching in-game performance,Part 3looks into methods examining aspects of production and design,Part 4deals with methods exploring interactivity and the rule system, andPart 5presents methods for researching gamer-generated content. Anintroductory chapter and a critical reflection chapter frame the individual methods as presented in the five parts.

Toallowforstraightforwardaccess(especiallywheninterestedingettinganoverview ofpossiblemethods)and easypracticalimplementation (especiallywheninterestedin applyingaspecificmethodtoyourowncasestudy),thisbookpresentseachmethodina standardizedway:

1. Introduction: This briefly defines the theme and method to be explored. It summarizesthemethod’sname,itspossibleapplications,andgivesashortdefinition ofthemethod.Itnamesthecasestudy,i.e.,theconcreteanalyzedmaterial/data,and themainresearchquestion.Italsobrieflystatestheresultofthecasestudy.

2. Theoretical background: This gives a critical survey of articles, books, and other sourcesrelevanttotheselectedmethod,inparticularrelatedtothestudyofreligion andgames,includingcontextualizationandtheoreticalbackground.

3. Method:Thissectiongivesadetaileddefinitionanddescriptionofthemethod.

4. Casestudy:Thisclearlydefinestheresearchquestionandgivesadescriptionofthe casestudy,theanalyzeddataandmaterial,theinterpretation,andtheanalysis.The methodishereappliedtothematerialinthecasestudyinordertoexemplifyitsuse.

5. Discussion:Thislastsectioncriticallydiscussesthemethod,includingitsbenefitsand limits.Itcriticallyevaluatesthedatasampleanditspossiblegeneralizations.

Thevolume’sopeningchapter,i.e.,thisveryintroduction,providesanintroductiontoand overview of the study of video games and religion, a contextualization of the volume’s approaches, methodical plurality and gamevironments, and an overview of the book’s structureandchapters.InPart1,textualandaudiovisualnarratives,KathrinTrattner,in “CriticalDiscourseAnalysis:StudyingReligionandHegemonyinVideoGames,”analyzes representations of Islam in recent Western military shooter games, using the concrete example of Medal of Honor: Warfighter (Danger Close Games 2012). Kerstin RaddeAntweiler,in“GamingElicitationinEpisodicInterviews:Let’sPlayBaptism,”presentsthe

newmethodofgamingelicitation,whichisbasedonthemethodofphotoelicitation,by discussing the singular steps in the case study of BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games 2013).

Part 2on in-game performance contains Gregory Price Grieve’s “An Ethno-graphic Method for the Study of Religion in Video Game Environments,” in which the author presentsanethnographicmethodforthestudyofreligioninvideogameenvironments, by examining Second Life (Linden Lab 2003) Zen Buddhist objects, places, avatars, groups, and events. In “Surreal Impersonation,” William Sims Bainbridge explores the MMORPG The Secret World (Funcom2012)throughanavatar,illustratingtheprinciples ofresearchimpersonationthroughthecaseofsendinganavatarbasedonanineteenthcenturyclergymanandsocialscientistintothegame.

In the production and design highlightingPart 3, Owen Gottlieb presents “DesignBasedResearch:MobileGamingforLearningJewishHistory, Tikkun Olam,andCivics.”He discusses a video game and simulation intervention in religious literacy and civic educationanddelineateshowdesign-basedresearchisusedintheprocessofdeveloping theinterventionandrelateddesignknowledge.MikhailFiadotau,in“Phenomenological Hermeneutics as a Bridge between Video Games and Religio-Aesthetics,” suggests a phenomenological hermeneutic approach to examine the ludo-narrative interplay in games and connect it to the phenomenological dimension of religion. He discusses the method by linking the Japanese genre of the visual novel to Japan’s religio-aesthetic conceptof ma.

Part 4, interactivity and rule system, includes Enrico Gandolfi’s “Empirical Triangulation: Applying Multiple Methods toExplore Religion and Myth through Video Games,”whichdiscussestheadoptionofagame-basedmethodologicaltriangulationof alternating questionnaires, play sessions, focus groups, and custom-made mods to exploretherelationbetweenreligionandmyth.In“PetriNetModeling:AnalyzingRuleBased Representations of Religion in Video Games,” Vít Šisler discusses rule-based representationsofreligioninvideogameswiththePetrinetmethod,amathematicaland agraphicaltoolformodelingdiscreteevent systems. Heappliesthemethod toanalyze rule-basedrepresentationsofCatholicism,SunniIslam,andIroquoisreligiousbeliefsin the strategy game Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs (Ensemble Studios 2006). Stef Aupers, JulianSchaap,and LarsdeWildt, in “QualitativeIn-DepthInterviews:Studying ReligiousMeaning-MakinginMMOs,”investigatethetopicbyusingin-depthinterviews andillustratetheirmethodwithanempiricalcasestudyof World of Warcraft (Blizzard 2004).

InPart5ongamer-generatedcontent,JosefŠlerkaandVítŠisler,in“NormalizedSocial Distance:QuantitativeAnalysisofReligion-CenteredGamingPagesonSocialNetworks,” introduce a new quantitative method, normalized social distance, for the study of religion-centeredgamingpagesonsocialnetworks.Themethodcalculatesthedistances betweenvarioussocialgroupsandprovidesanopportunityfordistantreadingofsocial media, enabling the formal representation and analysis of the structural aspects of big social data. The case study explores 15 religion-centered gaming pages on Facebook. XeniaZeiler,in“CodingCommentsonGamingVideos:YouTubeLet’sPlays,AsianGames, and Buddhist and Hindu Religions,” analyzes comments on gaming videos, specifically Let’s Play videos on YouTube, and proposes the use of a threefold approach of in vivo coding, axialcoding, and selectivecoding. Thechapterapplies thedifferent methodical codingstepstothecommentsonYouTubeLet’sPlaysof Asura’s Wrath (CyberConnect2 2012).

The volume concludes with a critical reflection by Kerstin Radde-Antweiler, which summarizes the possible methodical and/or methodological ways in which the intersections of video gaming and religion can be studied, discusses the necessity of reflecting on and further developing the traditional methods, and reflects on this necessityspecificallybydiscussinggamevironmentsasacommunicativefiguration. Overall, Methods for Studying Video Games and Religion presents a broad range of influential methodological approaches, critically discussing their application (including advantages and limits) and illuminating not only how and why video games shape the construction of religious beliefs and practices in modernity, but also situating such researchwithinawiderdiscourseofhowdigitalmediaintersectwiththereligiousworld ofthetwenty-firstcentury.Thisbookoffersexamplesofmethodsandrelatedcasestudies ofrecentscholarshipfromleadingandemergingscholarsofreligionanddigitalgaming inacohesivecollection,andthushopefullycreatesavaluableresourceforscholarswho researchandteachintheareasofmedia,religion,anddigitalculture.Bringingthiswork togetherintoasinglevolumealsoallowsforinterdisciplinaryreflectionandinteraction between game studies, media studies, communication, and religious studies. It is our hopethatitcontributestomappingoutfutureresearchagendasandtheimplicationsof theissueshighlighted.

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1

Critical Discourse Analysis StudyingReligionandHegemonyinVideoGames

Idonotknowhowyouarrivedtothisplace.Thatisunimportant.Whatisimportantistheinfidels areatourdoor,andhavetakenfromus.Tobepartofourcauseyoumustproveworthy.Weshall see.Weshallsee.…Someofyoumaybeselectedforadvancedtrainingtocarrythejihadtothe infidellands.Nowisthetimetoshowyourquality.

The above quote is taken from the first-person military-shooter Medal of Honor: Warfighter (Danger Close 2012), more precisely, from a mission entitled “Through the Eyes of Evil.” The manspeaking these words in Arabic is known as “The Cleric”: a rich Arabbankerandthedangerousmastermindbehindagloballyactiveterroristnetwork, whose religiously connoted alias is no coincidence. His instructions begin the player’s tutorial, an introduction to the mechanics of the game, throughout which the player completesashortterroristtrainingbyshootingattargetsinareplicaairplane,whichshe orheexperiences“throughtheeyesofevil.”Inthisshortfragmentofthegame,ahighly stereotypical enemy image is presented: the Arab Muslim terrorist. This stereotype is informed by the complex intersections of various political, medial, and interreligious discourses.Assuch,itispartofalargerculturalframework.AsBogost(2008:128)states:

“[No]videogameisproducedinaculturalvacuum.Allbearthebiasesoftheircreators. Videogamescanhelpshedlightontheseideologicalbiases.”

In the course of interrogating ideological biases, one quickly enters the domain of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). CDA is a type of discourse analytical research that focuses on critically deconstructing how hegemonic structures and ideologies are reflected in and enacted through language which is not necessarily confined to linguisticproperties.Cultural,historical,andintertextualcontextualizationarecrucialto this approach. This chapter argues that CDA can be a useful method for analyzing representationsofreligioninvideogames,particularlythosethataremarginalizingand othering,andforplacingthemwithinalargerdiscursivecontext.Thiswillbeillustrated by the case study, which analyzes representations of Islam in recent Western military shooter games, using the example of Medal of Honor: Warfighter. The main research questioninvestigatedis:HowisIslamrepresentedandcontextualizedinrecentWestern militaryshootersthroughtheportrayalofthegames’characters?

Astheresultsofthecasestudywillshow,Islamisconceivedasinherentlyideologized and politicized in Warfighter. As such, it is most of all understood as the foundation of anti-Western terrorism, and positioned in sharp contrast to Western civilization, emphasizing a simplistic Self versus Other dichotomy, and thereby reinforcing established structures of cultural and political hegemony. This is in accordance with populargeopoliticalimagesoftheWaronTerror(Bialasiewiczetal.2007:409),which resonate throughout different kinds of mainstream media, upon which the game significantly draws. Studying such complex interactions and their cultural and social embeddedness,aswellastheirconsequences,istheaimofCDA.

Theoretical Background

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA): A General Overview

Inbrief,CDAisatypeofdiscourseanalyticalresearchthatprimarilycriticallyexamines howhegemonyisenactedandconsolidatedthroughdiscourse.Itcannotberegardedas a uniform theory or method, but rather constitutes a specific approach and a “shared perspective” (Wodak 2001: 2) towards discourse and society from across multiple disciplines. Due to its multidisciplinary nature (van Dijk 2001), it is impossible to give one single definition of the concept of discourse as it is conceived of within CDA scholarship.Yet,atthecoreofanyCDA-studyliestheassumptionthatdiscourses:(1)not onlymirrorsocietalrealitiesbutdetermineandconstitutethem,and(2)“contributeto thestructuringofthepowerrelationsinasociety”(Jäger2001:37).Thelatterisexactly the point which draws CDA’s critical attention and which it aims to deconstruct and challenge.Whatcanbededucedfromthisisthat“thenotionofcontextiscrucialforCDA” (Meyer2001:15).Thisconcernsnecessaryinvestigationsofintertextuality(Fairclough 1992) and interdiscursivity (Jäger 2001), as well as a general placement of the investigateddiscourses“withintheirwidersocioculturalandinstitutionalframeworks” (Ensslin2012:23).

Furthermore, CDA’s critical perspective inevitably entails a positioning of the researchersthemselvesconcerningtheissueunderinvestigation(JägerandJäger2007: 15), which is why van Dijk (2001: 96) states that, by its nature, “CDA is biased.” In connection to its focus on the criticism of hegemonic structures, there is a strong

emphasisonsocial-scientificenquirieswithinthebroadfieldofCDA.Despiteanumber ofsharedgeneralcharacteristics,however,CDA’sconcreteapplicationasamethodvaries greatlydependingontheresearchquestionathand,theresearcher’sperspective,andthe semiotic structure of the analyzed “text(s).” There are numerous methodological frameworks for conducting critical discourse analyses from different perspectives throughoutvariousresearchdisciplines,whichsometimesdiffergreatly.

CDA and the Study of Religion

Despiteitstrans-andmultidisciplinarynature,CDA or,assomeauthorshaveargued, discourseanalysisingeneral israrelyappliedinthefieldofreligiousstudies(Moberg 2012; Hjelm 2014). Hjelm (2014: 856) argues that this absenceof CDA as a method of analysiswithinreligiousstudies(orsociologyofreligioninparticular)isagraveneglect, as it offers “a framework through which to analyze the discursive construction, reproduction,andtransformationofinequalityinthefieldofreligion.”Therefore,Hjelm (2014: 857) identifies CDA as a fruitful approach, not only for “looking at the ways in which religion, spirituality, belief, etc. are constructed in discourse,” but also for examining“theroleofreligionincreatingandsustaininginequalities.”TheemphasisCDA placesontheimportanceofcontext meaningtheplacementofdiscoursesonreligion(s) within their wider sociocultural, historical, and political contexts can be extremely usefulforanalyzingdiscoursesonreligion(s)fromaculturalstudiesperspective.

CDA and Game Studies

Withregardtothestudyofvideogames,CDAisalsoarelativelyrareapproach.Among others,tworeasonscanbeidentifiedforthis.Firstofall,asEnsslin(2012:23)explains, CDA“tendstoconcentrateonfactualratherthanfictionaltexttypes”despitethefactthat withinthelatter,assheargues,ideologicalcontentappears“aspoignantlyas oreven more poignantly than in factual media discourse.” Secondly, a general focus on the analysis of traditional texts, in the sense of “linguistically defined text-concepts, and linguistic-discursive textual structures,” (Blommaert and Bulcaen 2000: 450) can be observed withinCDA, henceit beingdifficulttoapplysuchframeworkstoavisual and procedural medium, such as video games. Aside from Ensslin’s work on (critical) discourseanalysisandvideogames,Masso’s(2009,2011)researchandthat ofMachin and Suleiman (2006) are definitely among the most detailed and insightful in this combination of fields. What becomes apparent is that neither of these studies simply bases their analyses upon a ready-made methodological CDA framework, but rather adaptsandextendsthoseframeworksaccordingtotheirownresearchquestionsand importantly tosuitthesemioticstructureofthemediuminquestion.

Generally, CDA has not yet been explicitly employed or addressed as a method for analyzing representations or receptions of religious discourses within video games. However,Iarguethatitcanbeaveryusefulapproachforseveralreasons.Masso(2009: 154)explainsthat ifwecanarguethatgamesexistinasocialcontext(asopposedtoanahistoricalsocialvacuum), andthatthereareoperationsofpowerwithinthem,thenitcanbearguedthatthefieldofCDA hassomethingtooffertothenascentfieldofgameanalysis.

With regard to portrayals of religion(s) in video games, Šisler (2008: 204) has also highlightedtheimportanceofsituatingsuchrepresentations(inhiscaseparticularlyof Islam)withintheirbroadermedial,sociocultural,andhistoricalcontexts,inaccordance with the general emergence of a critical approach towards video games within game studies (Galloway 2004; Leonard 2003, 2006; Bogost 2006, 2008; Santorineos 2008; Ensslin 2012). With its strong emphasis on intertextual and interdiscursive relations, CDAprovidesanexcellentmethodologicalbasisforsystematicallyanalyzingthecomplex intersectionsofdiscoursesonreligionwithotherdiscoursestrandsandsub-topicsthat impactthenarrativefunctionofreligionwithinthegame.

Method

The Notion and Structure of Discourse

The method chosen for this chapter is based on Jäger’s (2001) theoretical and methodological account of CDA, which is very much influenced by Michel Foucault’s (1972)understandingofdiscourse.AccordingtoFoucault(1972:49),discoursesarenot only“groupsofsigns(signifyingelementsreferringtocontentsorrepresentations)but […] practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak.” As such, Jäger (2001: 37) pointsoutthatdiscoursessignificantly“contributetothe structuringofthe powerrelationsinasociety,”whichisofcrucialinteresttoCDAinvestigations. It is important to recognize that discourses are by no means isolated and static, but ratherdynamicand“intertwinedorentangledwithoneanother”(Jäger2001:35).Thus, they“representintheirentiretyagiganticandcomplex‘millingmass’”(Jäger2001:35). Acomprehensiveanalysisofsuchavast,complex,andever-changingmazeofutterances and actions hardly seems possible. Jäger (2001: 46) argues that a structuring of the componentsandlayersofandarounddiscoursesisabsolutelynecessaryinordertobe able to analyze them. For this reason, he presents several terms which function as operationalaidsand alsoformthebasisofhismethodologicalframework(Jäger 2001: 47–51). These are summarized inTable 1.1and illustrated through examples, which referencethischapter’scasestudy.

Table 1.1 TheStructureofDiscourseAccordingtoSiegfriedJager(2001:47–51)

Term

discourse strand a thematically homogenous flow of discourse, which comprises a variety of sub-topics

the discourse strand War on Terror topics such as Islam, the Middle East,

discourse fragment a text or part of a text that deals with a particular topic; discourse fragments combine to form discourse strands a specific video game or part of a that deals with a certain

entanglement of discourse strands when a text references not only one, but various discourse strands (which is usually the case)

the discourse strand War on Terror with the discourse strand religious particular media texts

Definition Example

discourse plane

discourse sector

the various areas in which discourse strands operate; various discursive planes impact one another and relate to one another e.g., media, politics,

a discourse plane can be further divided into discourse sectors video games (as a sector of the discourse

Throughtheseterminologicalabstractions,Jäger(2001:35)attemptstobreakdown the complex “milling mass” of discourses into more accessible, localizable categories, makingthemmoreapproachableforactualanalysis.

Methodological Application

Before applying critical discourse analysis as a method to a given research material, several steps need to be considered beforehand. First of all, the theoretical approach underlying the researchers’ understanding of their object of research needs to be explained (Jäger 2001: 52). In this context, this also means that it must be clear what notion of discourse is being applied in the course of the analysis. Also, the precise discursive localization of the object of investigation is crucial. As Jäger (2001: 52) explains:

Iftheissueatstakeishowracismisdisseminatedinthemediaorineverydaylife,oneshouldnot takethetermracismasakindofmagnifyingglassandwithitlaunchasearchfortheexpression ofthisideology.Instead,oneshouldendeavortodeterminethelocationatwhichsuchideologies areexpressed.Suchalocationisthediscourseonimmigrants,refugees,asylum,andsoon.This discourse(strand)providesthematerial,whichhastobeinvestigated.

Withregardtothefollowingcasestudy,whichisconcernedwiththerepresentationand contextualization of Islam in recent Western military shooters as reflected in the portrayalofthegame’s(Medal of Honor: Warfighter’s)characters,thismeansthat,first, oneneedstoaskthequestionofthelocationofstatementsregardingIslam.Concerning the discourse sector of video games, and the genre of the military shooter, this thematization will most likely be found as part of the discourse strand War on Terror Hence, this is the discourse strand that should be analyzed with regard to the representationofIslam.

Onceitisclearwhattheoriestheanalysisisbasedon,whattheresearchquestionis, andhowitcanbediscursivelylocalized,appropriateresearchmaterial meaningoneor moreexemplarydiscoursefragments needstobechosen,explained,andprocessedfor analysis.Withregardtovideogamesasdiscoursefragments,itissensibletoprocessthe data by playing, recording, and transcribing the game in question ahead of analysis. Transcription should not only pay attention to the linguistic dimension, however, but rather build upon multimodal annotations, which should also include non-linguistic graphic, auditory, andproceduralelements. Thethoroughprocessing ofthematerialis essentialforacomprehensiveanalysis.

All of these steps should be summarized and made transparent in the preliminary remarks, following which Jäger’s methodological framework for a critical discourse analyticalfineanalysiscanbeapplied.Theframeworkforanalysispresentedbelowhas been based on Jäger’s, but also adapted in some regards to accommodate the specific characteristics of video games as discourse fragments, for instance, by incorporating

Term
Example
Definition

Bogost’s(2008)notionof“proceduralrhetoric.”Thisbeingsaid,Irecommend working throughthefollowingstepswithone’sspecificresearchquestioninmind:

1. Context

o 1.1Representativenessoftheselectedgamewithregardtotheanalyzeddiscourse strand

o 1.2Developersanddistribution

o 1.3Economicdimension

o 1.4Institutionalcontext(ifapplicable)

2. “Surface”

o 2.1Generalcharacteristicssuchasgenre,graphics,mode,etc.

o 2.2Plotandnarrativestructure

o 2.3Topicsaddressed,possibleentanglementoftopics

3. Rhetorical composition and stylistic devices with special attention to the representationofreligion

o 3.1 Characters: What characters are portrayed (playable and non-playable) and how?Howdotheyrelatetooneanotherand,especially,tothecharacter(s)ofthe player?Whatkindsofreligiousidentities/ascriptionsareencounteredwithinthe game?(How)Dotheystructurethoseinteractions?

o 3.2 Procedural rhetoric: Are negotiations of religious identities/ascriptions reflected in the game’s procedural rhetoric? (How) Does the procedural rhetoric structure,forinstance,social,religious,ethnicdifference?

o 3.3Stereotypesandclichés

o 3.4Implicationsandinsinuations

o 3.5References(intertextualaswellasbeyondthediscoursesector/plane)

4. Ideologicalstatementsbasedoncontent

o 4.1Whatconceptofworldorder,forinstance,isthegamebasedon/doesthegame convey?

o 4.2 What concept of religion (in general or of a specific one) is the game based on/doesthegameconvey?

o 4.3Whatisthefutureperspectivewhichthegamesetsout?

5. Otherpeculiaritiesorstrikingissues

6. Summary:Discoursepositionandoverallmessageofthegame.

Jäger (2001: 56) remarks that with regard to the “aesthetic aspect of the analysis […], rulescannotandshouldnotbeprescribed.”Usually,theconceptionofthisframeworkin termsofastep-by-stepproceduredoesnotrepresenttheendproductofaCDAstudyas it will be presented. After having worked through each step of the framework, the researcherswillmostlikelypresenttheirresultsinaformmoresimilartoanessay,using themainstepsofthisframeworkasaguide.Nonetheless,thecasestudyinthischapter willbepresentedstep-by-step,forthesakeofclarityandtransparency.

Case Study

Preliminary Remarks

With the theoretical and methodological basis outlined above, the superordinate research question to be investigated is as follows: How is Islam represented and contextualized in recent Western video games through their portrayal of characters?

Since most recent representations of Islam within Western games can be found within the shooter-genre, and specifically the military shooter sub-genre, this sub-genre has been chosen for analysis as it can be regarded as the discourse sub-sector most representative of the investigated issue. Within this genre, statements regarding Islam are most likely to appear in connection to the discourse strand War on Terror, which thereforeconstitutestheinvestigateddiscoursestrand.Thediscoursefragmentthathas beenchosenforanalysisistheUS-Americanmilitaryshooter Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

Thefollowinganalysisspecificallyinvestigatesthesingle-playercampaignofthegame. Meta-reflections and indications regarding the individual steps of analysis have been included in order to help readersunderstand the particular focus and/or procedure of these steps. Due to the limited scope of this chapter, the present study has been condensed.

1. Context

1.1

Representativeness of the Selected Discourse Fragment

The discourse fragment analyzed, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, is part of the Medal of Honor series,whichconstitutesoneofthethreebestsellingmilitaryshooterfranchises, theothertwobeingthe Battlefield seriesandthe Call of Duty series.

1.2 Developers and Distribution

ThegamewasdevelopedbytheAmericangamedeveloper Danger Close anddistributed by Electronic Arts (EA Games).

1.3 Economic Dimension

Warfighter can be considered an AAA game, meaning that it was high-budgeted and heavilypromoted.However,itwasbothacommercialandcriticalfailure,withsalesfar belowexpectations(Brightman2012).

1.4 Institutional Context

Seven Navy SEALs served as paid consultants during the development of the game (Martin2012).Hence,thegame’sproductioncontextiscloselyconnectedtothemilitary, whichisnot uncommonformilitary-themed shootergames(Ottosen2009;DerDerian 2009;Shaw2010).

2. Surface

2.1 General Characteristics

Warfighter is a first-person shooter game. It features photorealistic graphics as is common within this genre, in which realism is strongly emphasized (Galloway 2004; Höglund2008).Thematically,itcanbeclassifiedasamilitaryshooter.Thegamefeatures anofflinesingle-playercampaignandanonlinemultiplayermode.

2.2 Plot and Narrative Structure

As Hjelm (2014: 863) explains, “in the CDA context analysing narrative means paying attentiontohowastoryunfolds.”Therefore,thisstepnotonlyconcernstheactualplotof thegameinquestion,butalsohowtheeventsunfoldandhowpossibledifferentplotlines relatetooneanother.

The game revolves around several US elite soldiers engaged in the global War on Terror.ThemaincharactersonthesideoftheUSArmyarethesoldiersTom“Preacher” Walker, the protagonist, whose role the player assumes most of the time, “Stump,” “Mother,” “Voodoo,” and “Dusty,” the head of operations. Despite the protagonist’s codename’s obvious strong religious connotations, there are no direct hints within the narrativetowardshisreligiosity.Hence,Iwillrefrainfromfurtherinterpretationsinthis regard. There are also several narratively relevant enemies with whom the player is confronted in the course of the game: the Pakistani arms dealer, Faraz Iqbal Khan; the Bosnianexplosivesupplier,StovanBosic;thejihadistandlatermartyr,Marwanal-Kalifa; hissuperior,SadAlDin;andthelogisticianandbanker,Hassan,whoeventuallyturnsout tobethemastermindbehindtheterroristoperations,alsoknownas“TheCleric.”Kalifa, SadAlDin,and“TheCleric”areallofArabdescent.

The game features a main plotline and a subplot. The main plotline revolves around several of the abovementioned soldiers’ missions as they try to expose a global antiWestern terrorist network in possession of a dangerously large supply of explosives. Afterseveralmissionsthroughoutdifferentcountries,thesoldiersultimatelysucceedat puttingtogetherthepiecesofthepuzzleandeliminatingthenetwork’smastermind,“The Cleric.”Inadditiontothemainplotline,thereisalsoasubplotwhichunfoldsthroughout several cut scenes, revolving around “Preacher’s” personal conflict about serving his countryversusbeingthereforhisfamily.“Preacher”oftenservesasthelinkbetweenthe variousplotlinesofthegame.

2.3 Topics Addressed

Thisstep constitutesaprimaryreflectionon howdifferent topicsareentangled within the discourse fragment. At this point, the analysis should focus on simple topics that become visible on the surface level, and refrain from connecting those to discourse strandsfornow,asdoingsotooearlycanleadtoweakarguments.

Themaintopicof Warfighter istheglobalWaronTerror.Attheverybeginningofthe game,thisislinkedtothetopicsofIslamandjihadism,andsubsequently,itisassociated with the Middle East and Arabs through various missions as well as through concrete characters.Duetothenatureofthe(sub-)genre,themilitaryisconstantlyaddressed.This is not limited to the representation of the military as a collective in action, but also connectsthemilitarytothetopicoffamilythroughthedepictionofthemaritalproblems oftheprotagonistandnarrative-link,“Preacher.”Furthermore,patriotismisafrequent topicin Warfighter,accordingtotheconventionsoftheentiregameseries.

3. Rhetorical and Audiovisual Composition

3.1 Characters

Thisstep isconcernedwiththecharactersportrayed in thegame, particularlythrough the narrative and the audiovisual dimensions, with reference to the research question. Here, the framework has been specifically focused on the relationships between the characters,andtheircategorizationasaresultoftheserelations.

The characters can be classified into two clearly distinguishable opposing factions. Fromtheperspectiveoftheplayer,thereareallies(theUSArmy)andenemies(everyone buttheUSArmy).Beyondthat,thesecondaryplotalsoportraysthesoldiers’wivesand children.Despitebeingcompletelyirrelevanttothemainplotline,thissubplotservesto significantly humanize the US soldier(s) by attributing certain values to them, which further distinguish them from their enemies, who are not portrayed as emotionally accessibleor(positively)value-centered.

Intermsofin-gameaction,theenemiesthatconfronttheplayerthroughoutthebattle are mostly portrayed as a homogenous mob. However, the enemies encountered in missions set in Yemen and Pakistan, in particular, mostly exhibit distinct iconographic featuresthatarestereotypicallyattributedtoMiddleEasternand/orArabcharactersin videogames,suchascheapweapons,headcovers,andbeards(Šisler2014:116, 2008: 208). This geographical and cultural localization contributes to the othering of the enemies (Trattner 2016), and is also emphasized in other semiotic dimensions of the game.Forinstance,thefrequentforeign-languageenemyscreamsthroughoutbattleare nottranscribedintoon-screentext incontrasttoanyutterancesfromtheplayer’sown faction andcanthereforebeexpectedtoremainforeigntomostplayers.

Despite the international scale of the terror the US soldiers are confronted with in Warfighter, the geographic and cultural localization of its ideological and strategic descentisquiteclear,asthemainantagonistsareallofArabdescent.Kalifa,SadAlDin, and “TheCleric,” however, differ in theiriconographicportrayalfromthestereotypical anonymous mob of Arab or Middle Eastern enemies described above. They appear significantly“westernized,”thereforecorrespondingmorewiththeimageofalogistical andintellectualleader.Interestingly,itisthesecharactersin particularthatareopenly and repeatedly characterized as Muslim. This becomes apparent early on in the game, namely,inthesecondmission,entitled“ThroughtheEyesofEvil,”whichwasquotedin theintroductiontothischapter.Therein,“TheCleric”speaksofbringingthejihadtothe infidellandsand of thebattlehe and his brothers areabout to engage in. This mission significantlycontributestocharacterizingtherelationshipbetweenthedifferentfactions of characters, and establishes the origin of the conflict between them: the player is confrontedwithIslamicterroristswhoaimtodeclarewarontheWesternworld.Religion isthusexplicitlyintroduced thoughnotfurtherexplained asthesourceoftheconflict between these two groups, and therefore significantly contributes to structuring the relations and interactions between them. Interestingly, the US Army is not at all characterizedthroughreligion.Infact,religiondoesnotevenplayapartinthein-depth characterizationofindividualssuchas“Preacher.”

3.2 Procedural Rhetoric

When originally textual methods of analysis are applied to video games, the specific semiotic properties of the games are often ignored. Bogost’s concept of procedural rhetoric, however, can be integrated well into this adaptation of Jäger’s framework. In thisstep,theemphasisisplacedonexaminingifandhowthenarrativeandaudiovisual representationsarereflectedinand/orreinforcedthroughthegame’sprocedurality. Thedichotomyofthefactionsportrayed,asformulatedbythenarrative,and(partly) reinforcedbytheaudiovisualcomposition,alsofindsitsexpression,toacertainextent, intheproceduralrhetoricofthegame.Inparticular,thestrongdistinctionbetweenallies and enemiesisclearlyreflected in itsrule-system. Accordingtothegenre, theprimary formofinteractiontheplayercanengageinwithhisenvironmentismilitaryviolencein terms of shooting. It is, in fact, the only way the player can interact with his enemies (Höglund 2008). The argument that is conveyed by this procedurality is that the only expedientformofinteractionwiththeenemiesisviolenceresultinginkills.Eventhough the narrative presents the conflict between the factions as grounded in ideologized religiousconviction,thisisnotdirectlyreflectedintheproceduralrhetoricofthegame. However,the latter does significantly reinforce the strict distinction between the two opposingforces,whichisexplainedandlocalizedthroughthenarrative.

3.3 Stereotypes and Clichés

Muchoftheinformationforthisstepwillalreadyhavebeengatheredthroughtheclose examination of the steps above. However, what is also important here is contextualization:wheredothestereotypesobservedoriginateandwhereelsecanthey befound?

Several stereotypical representations, particularly with regard to the Yemenite and Pakistanienemies,havealreadybeenbrieflyaddressed.Theplot-relevantenemies,while mostly represented less stereotypically in terms of iconography, correspond to clearly assignable stereotypes when it comes to their characterization. For instance, Kalifa corresponds to the stereotypical image of the Muslim suicide bomber. The main antagonist,“TheCleric,”conformstothestereotypicalreligiousandideologicalterroristleader, which is already implied by his name. Interestingly, his character comprises anotherstereotype,namely,thewealthyArab.Theintersectionofthesetwostereotypes withinonecharacterisratheruncommonwithinthisdiscoursesector,andcantherefore beregardedasadisruptionofthecommonWaronTerrornarrative.

3.4 Implications and Insinuations

Thisstep takestheaboveanalysisfurther, asking:whatdothese stereotypesmean, or, whatdoestheiremploymentandcontextualizationimply,onalargerscale?

Through the stereotypical characterization of the enemies, the game implies an inherent connection between Islam, the Middle East, and anti-Western terrorism. Further, Warfighter impliesthatIslamis,firstly,ideologicalandinherentlypoliticaland, secondly,fundamentallyanti-Western.

3.5 References

This is a crucial step, as certain references can reveal particular ideological positions and/oraims.Thispartoftheanalysishasbeensignificantlycondensed.

Beyondthediscoursesectorofvideogames,theentiregameitselfcanbeviewedasa reference to the discourse sector of the military, given its main topic and genre. Accordingly, the majority of the in-game dialogue draws upon military language. Furthermore, throughout its missions, Warfighter makes numerous easily recognizable implicitreferencestoactualeventssurroundingtheWaronTerror,includingthecapture of Osama bin Laden. The game also repeatedly references news broadcasts within cut scenes, another frequent stylistic device within military shooters (Stahl2006). The purpose of these references is to strengthen the authenticity of the game experience, whichisacrucialobjectivewithinmilitaryshooters(Galloway2004;Höglund2008;King andLeonard2010:101).

4. Ideological Statements Based on Game Content

4.1

What Concept of World Order Is the Game Based On/Does the Game Convey?

Thisquestionwillmostlikelynotapplytoeveryresearchquestionordiscoursefragment. Inthecaseofrepresentationsofglobalconflict,however,itiscrucialtotheanalysis. Warfighter constructs the US, embodied by its soldiers, as a hegemonic force responsibleforfendingoffamajorthreattoestablished globalstructuresoforderand power.Thisconceptofworld orderischaracterized bystarkbinariesbetweentheSelf and the Other and presents, in many ways, a clear reflection of popular geopolitical perceptions of theWar on Terror (Stahl 2006; Bialasiewicz et al. 2007; Höglund 2008; King and Leonard 2010). It is made clear that a subversion of established power structures,asisintendedbytheterroristenemies,canonlyresultinchaos,andtherefore needstobeaverted.

4.2What

Concept of Religion Is the Game Based On/Does the Game Convey?

Theonlyreligionthatismoreorlessexplicitlyaddressedin Warfighter isIslam,asitis part of the characterization of the most important plot-relevant enemies. As such, it is onlyaddressedasthefoundationofanti-Westernterrorism,andhence,asthebasisofthe conflictthegamerevolvesaround.However,itisnotrepresentedinanactualreligious contextorintermsofportraying“ordinaryMuslims”(Šisler2008:204).Rather,Islamis construed as fundamentally politicized and ideologized, and remains nothing but a vehicleforanti-Westernterrorism. Warfighter doesnotdepictaconflictthatis“Islamvs. Christianity,” nor is it really about “East vs. West.” It is rathera conflict betweenIslam and the West, wherein Islam is portrayed as a political and ideological force and a breedinggroundforanti-Westernsentiment,ratherthanasareligionperse.Thegame’s portrayalofIslamfurtherimpliesthatthereligionisirreconcilablewith“Westernvalues” andaWesternunderstandingofdemocracy,whichisalsocommonofrepresentationsof IslamwithinmedialnegotiationsoftheWaronTerror.

5. Other Peculiarities or

Striking Issues

Duetothegame’snegativerepresentationofPakistan,asabaseandtraininggroundfor terrorists,ontheonehand,andasacorruptstate,ontheother,thegamewasbannedin Pakistanin2013(Makuch2013).

6. Summary

Medal of Honor: Warfighter situates the player as an agent within the global War on Terror.Thisconflictcomprisestwoverydistinctopposingfactions:ononeside,theUS Army,andontheother,agloballyactiveterroristnetworkwhosemainagentsareArab Muslims. Following common conventions of mainstream media representations of the War on Terror, Warfighter enforces the idea of strong dichotomies between these two factions,throughwhichthenon-Westernfactionisdistinctlyotheredonvariouslevels, often by the frequent employment of neo-Orientalist stereotypes (Samiei 2010). This othering happenspartly through the complex entanglement of discourse strands. With reference to the research question of this case study, concerning the representation of Islamwithinthegame,themostsignificantintersectionisbetweenthediscoursestrand WaronTerrorandthediscoursestrandreligiousextremism.Islam,whichisexclusively representedasaformofreligiousextremism,issignificantlycharacterizedasasourceof conflict,and,correspondingly,asinherentlypoliticalandideological.Iarguethat,within thegame’snarrativeframework,Islamonlyfunctionsasameansofdistinctionbetween theSelfandtheOther,andisshowntobeinoppositiontoWesternvaluesanddemocracy. This othering ultimately also significantly serves to positively characterize the player’s ownfaction,andtherebyreinforcesestablishedhegemonicstructures.

Discussion

This chapter has illustrated a methodological approach, which is still unconventional withinthestudyofreligionand/invideogames.Despite orbecauseof thisfact,CDA canofferalotofinnovativepotentialwithinthisparticularresearchcontext.First,dueto the critical perspective it entails, it can be a particularly useful method for analyzing marginalizingorotheringrepresentationsofreligionwithingames.Second,itsfocuson discursive, medial, and cultural contextualization helps situate the object of research withinawiderculturalframework.Thiscanbeparticularlyusefulwhenanalyzinggames wherein religion is not necessarily the main topic: the discursive localization of negotiationsofreligionand,furthermore,itsentanglementwithotherdiscoursestrands and topics, can often shed light on a not-so-obvious characterization of the topic in question.

Another advantage of the method presented is its openness to complementation, extension,andadaptation.Atthesametime,thisisoneofitsbiggestweaknesses.Thatis to say, it requires a profound theoretical understanding and entails a high degree of abstraction.Itisalsoverytimeintensive.Forinstance,thecasestudyinthischapterwas significantly condensed because it was simply not possible to point to all concrete references, implications, and entanglements of discourse strands within such a limited space.Thefactthatthecasestudyasitispresentedinthischapteronlycomprisesabout

half of the recorded information and interpretation indicates how extensive a comprehensiveCDAstudycanbe.

To conclude, I would like to emphasize one more crucial benefit of this method: the necessityoftheresearcher’s(critical)positioningregardingtheobjectofinvestigation. AswasestablishedintheintroductionbyBogost’s(2008:128)quote,“[no]videogame isproducedinaculturalvacuum.Allbearthebiasesoftheircreators.”Representations ofreligion,too,oftenappearwithinideologicallytingedandbiasedcontexts.Iarguethat athoroughexamination,and,therefore,challengingofsuchpatternsofrepresentationis a crucial task for critical scholarship on religion in games to undertake. After all, such representations do not necessarily remain safely within the boundaries of the magic circle(Huizinga1969), butcanindeed alsoreinforcediscriminatorydiscoursesin very realsocialcontexts.

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2 Gaming Elicitation in Episodic Interviews

Let’sPlayBaptism

The aim of this chapter is to present and discuss gaming elicitation as a method for inducingnarrativesininterviews.Withthehelpofgamingmaterial(suchasvideosofthe gameplay), gaming elicitation activates narrative storytelling within the respective interview and thus induces narrative knowledge. It builds up photo elicitation, which Harper(2002:13)definesas“thesimpleideaofinsertingaphotographintoaresearch interview.”Inthisregard,gamingelicitationappliesthismethodtogamingmaterialand takesthespecificgamingcharacteristicintoconsideration:avideogamesequenceserves as part of the interview to trigger narrative argumentation by the interviewees. The method as such is a method for data collection (namely interview data) and is always combinedwithamethodfordataevaluation.

Thechapterappliesgamingelicitationtostudyingritualsinthevideogame BioShock Infinite; in particular, to the baptism scene in the opening of the game. BioShock Infinite (IrrationalGames2013)isafirst-person,single-playergameandisplayableon multipleplatforms(e.g.,MicrosoftWindows,PlayStation4,Xbox360,XboxOne).Itwas developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games as the third installment in the BioShock series.Thegameworldissetin1912,inawhiteracistsociety.Thegameris playingthecharacterBookerDewittandhastorescueagirlnamedElizabethfromthe cloudcityColumbia,whichisruledbyZacharyHaleComstock,aprophetwhohastobe worshipped alongside the Founding Fathers of the United States. The game world is basedontheconceptoftheexistenceofmultiplerealities.Thegameissoimportantfor thestudyofvideogamingandreligionbecauseofitsrichusageofreligioussymbolsand rituals;aswellasthemeaningofbaptismandredemptioninthestoryline.Itistherefore notsurprisingthatanumberofauthorshavefocusedonthesegamenarratives(suchas baptismorsin)in BioShock Infinite (Bosman2014,2017).However,thefollowingisan interestingquestion:Howdogamersperceivethesegamenarratives?Thisisofparticular importance,becausethemajorityofresearchonreligionandgamingstillfocusesongame narrativesandpresupposesthattheiranalyticalperspectiveisthesameasthegamers’ perceptionofthesenarratives.Byusingthemethodofgamingelicitation,itispossibleto integratethegamers’perspectives,compare,andcriticallyreflectonbothsetsofresults. Therefore,thegameisaninterestingcasestudyfordiscussingthebenefits,aswellasthe limits,ofapproachesthatfocusonnarrativesincontrasttogamer-focusedmethods.

Theoretical Background

According to Zimmerman (2013), one can describe the twenty-first century as a ludic century, in which actors are defined by games, in contrast to the linear and noninteractiveinformationproducedbyoldermediaformssuchasradio,film,andtelevision. Gamesandgamingbecomeintertwinedwitheverydaylifeandhaveanincreasingimpact on fields such as religion. Additionally, religion as such in the form of symbols, mythologies, rituals, etc. plays an enormous role in video game narratives. It is thereforenotsurprisingthatinrecentyearsamassofworkconcerningtherelationship betweenreligionandvideogaminghasbeenpublished(Bainbridge2013;Campbelland Grieve2014),inparticularonreligioningaming(Geraci2014)orongamingasreligion (Wagner2012).However,mostexistingresearchfocusesonreligiousnarrativeswithin videogameswithoutintegratingordiscussingtheactor’sperspective.Oneexceptionis Luft (2014), who focuses solely on Christian gamers. There are also approaches that combine actor-centered and game-immanent perspectives (Heidbrink, Knoll and Wysocki2015);however,thisisonlyinamedia-centeredandnotinanactor-centered way. The elicitation method in episodic interviews tries to fill this gap. It builds on different theoretical approaches: the communicative construction of religion, the analytical concept of gamevironments, and the distinction between semantic and narrativeknowledgeinepisodicinterviews.

The Communicative Construction of Religion

Actors live in mediatized life-worlds. Mediatized life-worlds refer to the actors’ lifeworlds, which increasingly intertwine with media. Consequently, research on religion andgaminghastoaskifandtowhatextentthishasanimpactonactors’understanding of religion. However, definitions of religion are diverse, depending on the respective academic disciplines and traditions. In contrast to an essentialist approach, which assumes that religions are “given entities,” this research builds on a discursive understandingofreligion:(religious)actorsredefineandnegotiatereligionandreligious symbolsaccordingtotimeandcontext.Theseinterpretiveandnegotiationprocessestake place through so-called communicative practices. Thus, social realities are constructed (Knoblauch 2012, 2017, in line with Berger and Luckmann 1970). The communicative construction of religious reality focuses on the way in which religious actors define something or someone through their communicative action as “religion” and how this changes with a changing media environment. Communication has changed over time (andstilldoes)withthedevelopmentofnewmediatechnologies;inparticular,gaming hasbecomeincreasinglyimportant.Thus,categoriessuchas“religiononline”and“online religion”arenothelpfulanymore,becausetheypresupposedichotomiesbetweenoffline andonlinerealities(Radde-Antweiler2012).

Researchonthecommunicativeconstructionofreligioninmediatizedlife-worldshas to focus on these construction processes and consider the role of a changing media environmentfortheactorsintheirmediatizedlife-worlds.However,changingprocesses do not happen for a single reason; they are not mono-causal. Therefore, research on gaming and religion has to take into consideration the diverse sociocultural processes with which the actor is confronted next to mediatization. Based on Zimmermann’s conceptofaludiccentury,Iwouldspeakof“gametizedlife-worlds.”Researchonvideo gaming and religion in this sense has to analyze the communicative construction of

religion in relation tovideogaming. Toget accesstothese construction processes, one possiblemethodisgamingelicitation,throughwhichresearcherscaninducenarrations.

Gamevironments

Juul(2001)hasalreadystressedthenecessityoffollowinganapproachthatgoesbeyond game-immanent narratives because of gamers’ different gaming experiences. While Castronova (2007: 58) presupposes a gap between the “real world” and the “virtual world,” or in his words an “in there” versus “out here,” the game-vironment concept postulates an increasing integration of digital and in particular gaming technology intoreligiousactors’everydaylives.Tointegrategamers’perspectivesaswellasvideo game content, research on religion and gaming has to focus on both. Radde-Antweiler, Waltemathe, and Zeiler (2014) developed the theoretical and analytical concept of gamevironments (a made-up word combining the terms gaming and environment), which tries to integrate cultural and social context on one hand and the technical environment on the other hand. This approach is actor-centered, which means that it focuses on the actor in its mediatized (and concrete: gametized) life-world (for mediatizationingeneralseeHeppandKrotz2014).“Methodologically,thisinvestigative approachdoesnotplaceonecertainmedium,e.g.,televisionortheInternet,inthefocus of its analysis, but individuals, groups, or organizations in their respective mediatized worlds” (Radde-Antweiler 2017: 146). Such a gametized life-world takes into consideration not only the gaming experience of the gamer and the game content, but alsoothermediawhichareconnectedtothat,e.g.,Let’sPlays,forums,books,videos,etc. It thereby exceeds a media-centered approach without ignoring the specific game narrativesandthecharacteristicsofvideogamesasamedium.

Gaming Elicitation as an Enhancement of Interviews

Qualitative methods build on the interpretation of social issues, which result from a verbal description of these facts (Gläser and Laudel 2009: 24). The aim of structured, semi-structured,orunstructuredinterviews(Robson2011)istheacquisitionofverbal information from actor(s), mostly on a specific topic (Scheuch 1967: 70). Episodic interviews in particular are a specific form of interview, because they presuppose and collecttwofold knowledge. AccordingtoFlick (1995), actorscanprovideexperiencein two different forms of knowledge: semantic knowledge as well as narrative (episodic) knowledge.Thefirstonedefinesknowledgederivedfromtheactor’sexperience,which ischaracterizedbygeneralizationandabstraction,andisalreadycategorizedinrelation tootherstructures.Incontrasttothat,narrativeknowledgeconsistsofknowledgefrom immediateexperiencesandthroughconcreteexperiences(Lamnek2010:331).Whereas narrativeknowledgeismoreaccessiblebymeansofnarratives,semanticknowledgeis perceived by means of (argumentative) statements. In contrast to regular interviews, gaming elicitation uses the advantages of visual methods and takes into consideration gaming as part of visual culture. Therefore, gaming elicitation can be viewed as an enhancementofinterviews,onethattriestoinducenarrativeknowledgebyusinggaming material.

Method

In short, gaming elicitation can bedefined asa method using specific(audio, visual, or audiovisual)gamingmaterialininterviewsandaskingintervieweestocommentonthem. This material is defined as an “elicitation element.” The aim of gaming elicitation is to inducenarrations and tocollect narrativeknowledge, orin Harper’swords:toevokea “deepandinterestingtalk”(Harper2002:23)onvideogaming.

Itisusedinqualitativeresearch,namely,ininterviewsettings.Theparticularinterview formatcanvary;however,elicitationismostlyappliedinopenornarrativeinterviews.It isbasedonthemethodofphotoelicitationbutacknowledgesandreflectstheinteractive elementofgaming.Photoelicitationisnotanewmethod;itwasdevelopedinthefieldof visualanthropologyto “interpretphotosbythesubjectofthephotograph”(Collierand Collier1986:108).Photoelicitationismostlyusedinthefieldofchildhoodstudies(e.g., Mandleco 2013) or health studies (e.g., Brennan and Rutledge 2013) where it is anticipatedthatinterviewpartnerscannotarticulatesufficientlyontheirown.Inother words, elicitation methods “can be empowering, giving voice to those who may not otherwisebeheard”(GuilleminandDrew2010:177).Furthermore,althoughnarrative isregardedasaneverydaycompetence,onecannotreallyassumethateachinterviewee is capable of narrating his life story (Fuchs 1984: 249). Therefore, this chapter argues that,evenwithintervieweeswhoarecapableoftheparticularlanguage,elicitationcan be more efficient than normal interviews because it induces narrative knowledge and, with that, actors’ construction processes, which would not have been visible through “normal”interviewquestions.Swartz(1989:148)stressedthepointthatvisualmaterial generated “data illuminating an aspect of life […] which had been invisible to” the researcherotherwise.

Gamingelicitationisespeciallyusefulwhenitcomestovideogamingandreligion.Even intermsofmediausageassuch,actors donotreflectoneveryactiontheytakebutmasteralotoftheirdailylifewithouteventhinking about it as long as there is no problem, theydo not even notice that theyare using media to performcertaintasks.

(Radde-Antweiler,GrünenthalandGogolokforthcoming)

Thus,suchlatentmediausageisquitecomplicatedtoevaluate.Myhypothesisisthatthis iseventruerforvideogaming.Religioncanalsobeadelicateissuethatpeopledonotlike totalkabout.Thus,gamingelicitationoffersanopportunitytotalkontheonehandabout theactors’gamingusageand behaviorwhileontheotherhand theinduced narrations canshedlightontheirimplicitconstructionofreligion.

Gaming elicitation does not differ primarily from the usual photo elicitation in the mediatypesused(the“elicitationelement”).Thus,itcanincludephotosorscreenshots andaudiovisualelementsasinphotoorvideoelicitation.However,themaindifference isthattheelicitationelementalwaysconnectstogame-relatedcontent.Thismeansthat the interviewer will confront the interviewee with gaming content in the form of a screenshot or a video of the game-play, depending on the specific research design. Because he is a gamer, he can identify himself due to his own gaming experience. Memoriesofthispersonalexperiencewillbetriggered,andtheinterviewcanaddressthe interviewee’sreceptionofthegame-contentmoreeasily.

In contrast to standardized interview questions, gaming elicitation increases the interviewee’srelevanceandpowerbyofferinghimarole“notonlyasdataresource,but

also as a resource of analysis” (Jenkings, Woodward and Winter 2008). It thus tries to equaltherelationshipbetweentheinterviewerandtheintervieweebydiscussingand,in thissense,evaluatingthedata theelicitationelement togetheraspartofacooperative effort:“Theinformantandtheresearchercanthenexaminethevisualrecordtoexplore theprocesstogether,takingtimewitheachaspectoftheevent,toarriveatanegotiated versionofit”(HeisleyandLevy1991:268).CollierandCollier(1986:105)evenwentone stepfurtherwhentheycharacterizedtheintervieweeasaresearchassistant:“Wewere asking questions of the photographs and the informants became our assistants in discoveringtheanswerstothesequestionsintherealitiesofthephotographs.”However, dependingontheresearchquestion,triangulationwithadataevaluationmethodisstill necessary.

Just as with photo elicitation (Harper 1986; Jenkings, Woodward and Winter 2008), thereisnotonesinglegamingelicitationmethodorastandardizedprocedure.Theform of the elicitation element is not fixed; it can include photos, texts, audio, or video files. Even if the core of this method is always the same inducing narrations by using elicitationmaterial therearedifferencesinthelatter.Matteucci(2013)speaksoffour differentversionsofphotoelicitation,whichcanbeappliedtogamingelicitationaswell. Researchers have to differentiate between gaming elicitation elements that are (1) producedbytheresearcher,(2)gatheredbytheresearcher,(3)producedbytheresearch participant, or (4) gathered by the research participant (Matteucci 2013: 191) and goingbeyondMatteucci (5)producedbybothofthemduringtheparticularinterview.

Forexample,theinterviewercanasktheintervieweetobringsomedifferentgaming material (the “elicitation element”) to the interview (4) or to produce something in particular on a specific topic (3). The same goes for the researcher: either he collects existinggamingmaterial(2)orheproducessomematerialonhisown(1).Alternatively, theinterviewerandintervieweecanproduceelicitationmaterialwithintheinterviewby playingaselectedpartofthegame(5).

Theadvantageofworkingwiththematerialmadebytheintervieweeishisactiverole inchoosingorproducingtheelicitation material,whichoffersagoodstartingpointfor speaking about this material as well as its selection criteria. Both versions need good preparationandclearinstructionsgivenbeforehandonaspecifictopic,thequantityand qualityofthematerialaswellasthenecessarytechnicalequipment(e.g.,incaseofvideos, the specific software for producing the material by the interviewee or for presenting them). Another point that the researcher has to reflect on beforehand is the specific researchquestion:materialgatheredorproducedbytheintervieweecanriskcreatinga focusthatdoesnotfitwiththeoriginalresearchtopic.Here,theresearcherhastoreflect criticallyonandtryout,usingpre-tests,whatexactinformationheprovidesbeforehand: aslittleaspossibleandasmuchasnecessary.Theadvantageoftheelicitationelement producedorgatheredbytheresearcheristhespecificationofthepossiblefocusortopic. Forthisreason,theresearchercanselectspecificmaterial andtryitoutinpre-testsas well for inducing topic-related narrations in the interview. Not surprisingly, the advantage is also a disadvantage at the same time: by selecting material himself, the researchersetstheagendaandthedirectionfortheinterview,i.e.,hedetermineshowit willdevelopandprobablypreventsmovingontoothertopicsofconversationthatmight havebeenraisedbytheintervieweeinamoreopensetting.Dependingontheparticular research design and the research question, this has to be taken into consideration. Producinganelicitationelementusingbothseemstobeanattractivealternative,because it accommodates explicitly the character of video gaming. However, difficulties can be twofold: first, as with gathering elicitation material, a possible missing focus in the

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