1,720,999 research outputs found
Marvelous Villains and Villainesses:The Bad, The Mad and The Ambiguous
No full textIn human history superheroes have always played a part in the narratives of the world humans live in (Coogan 2006, Arnaudo 2013, Rosenberg 2013, Rosenberg & Coogan 2013, Bahlmann 2016, Gavaler 2015). In the MCU the amazing but also ambiguous protagonists have invited us into a world of conflict, of conquest, og diversity and not least of the idea that the world is a multiverse. But in the cases of the superhero studies one point is mentioned but not thoroughly studied: What about the role, the function and the transformations of the supervillains and supervillainesses?This study draws on theory on superheroes and supervillains as popular culture, as political representations and philosophical reflections as well as scholarly analysis published by the authors (see list of References).This study intends to give an answer to the question in direct relation to the MCU productions both in movies and in streaming series. As an initial point of departure Peter Coogans (Coogan 2006) five categories of villains will be used to understand the roster of supervillains and supervillainesses in the MCU. How and why are the characters of the MCU antagonists villains? To answer this second question a more detailed study of key supervillains and villainesses will be analyzed.<br/
(Pandemic) Playing for fun, playing for meaning: : a personal essay on how digital games evoke hedonic and eudaimonic experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic
No full textAbstract: The year 2020 \u2013 and probably a decent amount of 2021 as well \u2013 has been dominated by the emergence and global spread of COVID-19, a respiratory infection illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 type of coronavirus (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020). To combat this pandemic, governments around the world implemented several measures to maintain physical and social distancing between people, including organizing sports and cultural events without an audience or even cancelling them, and limited or no access to restaurants, (movie) theatres, shopping, and other social venues. As such, people are spending more time at home, searching for alternative activities to engage in. One of those activities is playing digital games, which has seen an increased popularity during the pandemic. Next to their increased popularity, digital games have also been found in previous research to offer players an extensive range of experiences that can help players cope with issues that are very present during the Covid-19 pandemic, including stress, loneliness, and negative emotions. Recently, an important distinction made in entertainment research is that of hedonic (e.g., pleasure, fun) and eudaimonic experiences (e.g., meaning, self-reflection, nostalgia, elevation). Based on several case studies (including games such as Doom Eternal, Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Call of Duty: Warzone), this essay provides a reflection on how playing digital games and why specific gameplay moments led to both hedonic and eudaimonic experiences that helped me as a player cope with the pandemic
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Profound playing : investigating eudaimonic experiences and motives in digital games
No full textAbstract: Digital games are still often perceived as a trivial and useless pastime that makes players dumber, more aggressive and addicted. This doctoral research departs from the philosophical idea of 'eudaimonia', in which forms of entertainment such as games can generate more than just pleasure. For instance, playing games can lead to intense emotions, self-reflection or reflection on broader social themes (e.g. war, immigration), social connection with other players or game characters, etc. The thesis consists of two main parts: the first part deals with these deeper, eudaimonic experiences during gameplay, while the second part contains research on these experiences as possible eudaimonic reasons for selecting specific games in the first place. For example, interviews with 53 Flemish youths between the ages of 12 and 18 showed that they did indeed have eudaimonic gaming experiences, which they described as socially connecting, intensely emotional and reflective moments while playing games. To be able to experience these moments as meaningful, games had to make a connection with their personal "real" life. Furthermore, an analysis of three popular games (e.g. Assassin's Creed Odyssey and God of War) revealed that a strong involvement in game stories with themes such as death or strong family relationships, game choices that have an impact on the story, as well as qualitative graphics and appropriate background music are all elements that lead to eudaimonic gaming experiences. In addition, an online questionnaire questioning an international gaming audience (nearly 900 players) on several unreleased games demonstrated some interesting results about eudaimonic motives for selecting games: (1) players have little or no concrete expectations to have deeper eudaimonic experiences, except a few who talked about wanting to experience complex emotions (although many players talked about story expectations, impactful game choices, and aesthetic qualities that can indirectly lead to eudaimonia), and (2) players seem to have eudaimonic reasons for playing games, including wanting to reflect on oneself or experiencing personal growth through playing games. In addition to these surveys, the dissertation also contains some literature reviews, mainly to determine exactly how eudaimonic experiences and motives have be defined, and to provide an overview of the research field to inform future research in this innovative field. Ultimately, this thesis shows that not all games are mindless forms of entertainment, and that some games have the potential to elicit meaningful eudaimonic experiences in players
Is this the way? The Mandalorian's moral journey
No full textAbstract: This chapter discusses how Djarin\u2019s strict adherence to the Mandalorian creed gradually weakens due to his evolving relationship with Grogu. His sense of morality seemingly shifts from a strong loyalty to the Mandalorian community to loyalty, caring for, and bonding with Grogu. This dynamic is interpreted mainly from a moral psychology approach, which is used to examine which moral values are included in the Mandalorian creed and how Djarin\u2019s moral disposition changes throughout the series. Additionally, a positive psychology perspective addresses how Djarin\u2019s character development throughout the series can be defined as eudaimonic (i.e., focusing on worthwhile aspects of life3,4), improving his well-being mainly due to his growing connection with Grogu as well as his shifting identification as a Mandalorian. This chapter addresses whether and how Djarin\u2019s journey influences his moral values, decision-making, and his adherence of the Mandalorian moral code
- …
