‘Killer Games’ Versus ‘We Will Fund Violence’
The Perception of Digital Games and Mass Media in Germany and Australia
©2011
Thesis
350 Pages
Summary
While the assessment of digital games in Germany is framed by a high-culture critique, which regards them as an ‘illegitimate’ activity, they are enjoyed by a wider demographic as a ‘legitimate’ pastime in Australia. The book analyses the social history of digital gaming in both countries and relates it to their socio-cultural traditions. Concerning social history, Australia almost depicts an inverse mirror image of Germany. Its foundational dynamics, closely associated with different egalitarianisms, led to a different form of distinction than in Germany – a country whose national self-conception was closely related to groups which perpetuated an idealistic notion of Kultur and later integrated it into a rigid class system. The book not only demonstrates how the discourses on games follow long-established patterns of rejection and approval of mass media but also regard them as an access to the inner workings of both societies. How the games are perceived tells us a lot about German and Australian identity.
Details
- Pages
- 350
- Publication Year
- 2011
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9783653006414
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9783631606117
- DOI
- 10.3726/978-3-653-00641-4
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2011 (April)
- Keywords
- Massenmedien Distinktion Digitale Spiele Massenkultur
- Published
- Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien, 2011. 350 pp., 2 graphs
- Product Safety
- Peter Lang Group AG