Digital Gaming and Tolkien, 1976-2015

‘Tolkien’ the cultural phenomenon is far bigger than J. R. R. Tolkien the author, or even J. R. R. Tolkien the author-and-oeuvre. When Christopher Tolkien asserted in 2012 that his father’s legacy has been rendered monstrous he blamed its fate on the gross depredations of commercialization generally and the Warner Bros’ franchise in particular. Explorations of – and encomiums on – the afterlives of Tolkien’s novels generally focus on the impact of Peter Jackson’s films. The forces which have shaped contemporary ‘Tolkien’ are not only commercial however; fans also ‘do things’ with Tolkien’s writings. The drive to make money has played a significant part in shaping Tolkien’s legacy, but audience engagements and technological change have also been highly significant as this article demonstrates through an exploration of digital games (computer and console) which adapt Tolkien’s writings from the 1970s to the present. The article considers both licensed and unlicensed games, and both fan and franchise practices and creations

Performative Trolling: Szubanski, Gillard, Dawson and the Nature of the Utterance

In 2012 the Australian public witnessed three important examples of trolling play out in the public sphere that are the focus of this paper: the trolling of Julia Gillard’s Facebook page when she attempted to discuss education policy, the anonymous trolling of Charlotte Dawson’s Twitter page, and the trolling of Magda Szubanski on YouTube after she came out on The Project. These attacks may seem similar in that a public persona has been ridiculed and denigrated in flamboyant onslaughts. However, we will argue that there are important differences in the effects of these attacks, and that underpinning these are differences relating to the individual persona, the social medium and the nature of the utterance. The attacks on Gillard and Szubanski are primarily descriptive attacks on a deliberate and somewhat stage-managed public performance of identity, not a call to action. On the other hand, the anonymous trolling of Charlotte Dawson, which led directly to her attempted suicide, is clearly a performative utterance from the start, meant to have consequences on the object of attack. In Dawson’s case, the separation between her public persona and her private self is far less distinct than in the case of Gillard or Szubanski. These instances demonstrate that trolling exists on a performative continuum, engaging in constant disruption, but also lending itself to the production of social action. The kind of impact trolling will have depends, thus, on the affordances of social media, the persona under attack, and on the very nature of the utterance itself

The Price of "Man" and "Woman": A Hedonic Pricing Model of Avatar Attributes in a Synthetic World

This paper explores a unique new source of social valuation: a market for bodies. The internet hosts a number of large synthetic worlds which users can visit by piloting a computer-generated body, known as an avatar. Avatars can have an asset value, in that users can spend time to increase their skills; these asset values can be directly observed in online markets. Auction data for avatars from the synthetic fantasy world of EverQuest are used here to explore a number of questions, especially those involving the relative value of male and female avatars. In EverQuest, about 20 percent of the avatar population is female, and there are no sex-based differences in avatar capabilities. Many avatars (about one-fourth to one-fifth of the population) are cross-gendered, being piloted by a person of the opposite sex. Nonetheless, relations between avatars are gender-based, and include chivalry, dating, and sex. Female avatars tend to be concentrated in highly sexualized Human and Elven races, with very few being present among such aesthetically-challenged races as Ogres and Trolls. Hedonic analysis of the auction price data suggests that gender labels are a less important determinant of avatar values than the ‘level,’ a game-design metric that indicates the overall capabilities of the avatar. Thus, ability seems more important than sex in determining the value of a body. Nonetheless, among comparable avatars, females do sell at a significant price discount. The average avatar price is 333 dollar; the price discount for females is 40 to 55 dollar, depending on methods. The discount may stem from a number of causes, including discrimination in Earth society, the maleness of the EverQuest player base, or differences in well-being related to male and female courtship roles. We do know, however, that these differences cannot be caused by sex-based differences in the abilities of the body, since in the fantasy world of Norrath, there are none.synthetic worlds, internet auctions avatar attributes, sexual discrimination

Two Moominvalleys? About the Different Creations of the Moomin World in Selected Comic Strips and Magazines on the Polish Publishing Market

The presented considerations refer directly to two different, and not necessarily consistent, creations of Moominvalley, presented in the Moomins magazine and in comic albums, in the form of a collection of illustration strips by Tove Jansson which were published regularly in the Evening News. This article is an attempt at analysing and comparing the Moomin worlds presented in selected Polish magazines and comic books. To systematize these considerations and carry out an efficient and clear analysis of particular interpretative layers and planes, this text is divided into sections, devoted among others to the theoretical sphere, being a collection of information on the Moomin comic strips in Polish magazines and albums, and the methodological sphere, comprising a description of the way of structuring the ponderations and analysing the study material. They are crowned with conclusions which attempt to define and identify the age of the prospective readers of the analysed illustration sequences and promise to start interpretative endeavours related to the remarkable comic strips by the Finnish writer and illustrator, also known as the Moomin Mum

"Beasts," "Beings," and Everything Between: Environmental and Social Ethics in Harry Potter

This paper examines J.K. Rowling's fictional textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, alongside the Harry Potter series, exploring how Rowling questions official academic discourse that defines boundaries between the human and nonhuman. By creating magical characters that straddle the line between "beast" and "being," as defined by fictional scholar Newt Scamander, Rowling blurs the boundary between human and animal and questions the treatment of the nonhuman as subhuman that results from such firm boundaries. At the same time, in other areas of her novels Rowling seems to reiterate the division of the human from the nonhuman, and seems to maintain a hierarchy of power that positions fully human characters over their nonhuman - and "part-human" - counterparts. The weakened boundary between beast and being complicates any discussion of the novels' social agenda, particularly regarding what many critics have perceived as Rowling's racial stereotyping of her part-human characters according to white, imperialist tropes. The result is an ambiguous code of environmental and social ethics that hinges on the question of what it means to be a being - human - as opposed to a beast - animal - and whose right it is to define these important legal and social categories

Mythological Intertextuality in “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child” Special Rehearsal Edition

This thesis focused on the mythological intertextuality in “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child” special rehearsal edition (2016). There are two objectives of the research in this thesis, they are (1) to find out the mythologies intertexted in the novel and (2) to see how those mythologies involved in the construction of the story to help building it up. This research used descriptive qualitative method since the main data’s source is from the texts of the novel by J.K Rowling. In collecting the data, the researcher relied on himself as the main instrument that collected them and then analysed them using the basic concept of the theory of intertextuality by Julia Kristeva combined with the common general definition of mythology forming mythological intertextuality. The result of the research revealed that there are 18 mythologies that inserted by the author into the novel which can be categorized: 4 objects, 5 characters, and 9 creatures. Those mythologies involved in the construction of the story, which are theme, characters, plot and setting. Most of the mythologies inserted by the author involved in the character element since it covers up the mythological figures and creatures. It can be seen that the author brought the mythologies combined with her creativity or another external elements in arranging the story because the mythologies do not dominated the element yet they have their participation in constructing it

In the Land of Mordor Where the Shadows Lie: Good, Evil and the Quest in Tolkien's Middle Earth

The land of Middle Earth, which is the setting for Tolkien's major mythic works, is one which has been created from the best of traditional sources. Tolkien was a famed expert on the literature and language of the early medieval and dark ages. His researches and writings in Anglo-Saxon and Northern lore gave him a unique insight into the meanings of myth throughout the ages. When he came to form the mythology of Middle Earth he built into it all the aspects that made such literature popular for all time. He also included many further subjects and points that had been missing from earlier tales, or merely hinted at. The result is a complete history, cultural, geographical, religious and mythic. In all chronicles of this kind there is an attempt to describe or explain the current state of affairs. In Middle Earth this state is not a pleasant one, and its origins go back to the beginnings of sentient life in that realm. The world is divided between the Dark powers and those who strive for Light. While it can be said that any world would be composed of good and evil parts, in Middle Earth the situation in contemporary times is balancing on a knife-edge. The evil forces are immeasurably more dangerous than those in existing literature, and those powers must be countered somehow to restore Middle Earth to normality. If one can explain the imperfect state of Man through comparison with the description of an elemental clash between the forces of good and evil, then the mythic tale which does can be said to have succeeded. Good and evil in Middle Earth are established as facts by Tolkien and he uses the classic method of resolving the differences between them - the quest. This device not only shows up good to the best, but also provides a way of countering the evil

A Breath of Fresh Air: Art in a Scientific World

A Breath of Fresh Air: Art in a Scientific World evaluates four years of theatrical work in preparation for directing Beth Henley\u27s Crimes of the Heart. My discussion examines the variety of jobs I have accomplished and how each role was uniquely helpful in developing skills that can be used outside theatre. My project portfolio concludes with a written account of the experiences and reactions of directing a show from choosing a play to the final performances

N: A Sea Monster of a Research Project

Ever since time and the world began, dwarves have always fought cranes. Ever since ships set out on the northern sea, great sea monsters have risen to prey upon them. Such are the basics of life in medieval and Renaissance Scandinavia, Iceland, Scotland and Greenland, as detailed by Olaus Magnus\u27 Description of the Northern Peoples (1555), its sea monster-heavy map, the Carta Marina (1539), and Abraham Ortelius\u27 later map of Iceland, Islandia (1590). I first learned of Olaus and Ortelius in the summer of 2013, and while drawing my own version of their sea monster maps a thought hit me: write a book series, with teenage characters similar to those in How to Train Your Dragon, but set it amongst the lands described by Olaus, in a frozen world badgered by the sea monsters of OrteIius. I flipped the paper over and wrote the title: N, a symbol for all that a northern world of legend embodies. The aim of this project was to plan an epic fantasy adventure novel based upon the teachings and maps of Olaus and Ortelius, as well as the real history, culture, mythology and cryptozoology of Scandinavia, Iceland, Scotland and Greenland, and discover how to adapt these sources into my fictional text. The research I have done concerning these 95 separate concepts as I call them, five of which I have written within scenes, has beautifully bolstered by idea of how such items are adapted, and mapping out the chapter plots and arcs of my four characters has provided endless growth in both my idea of them and of myself. Drawing five of the sea monsters and including the sample chapter allowed me to truly judge the overall scope. This project not only taught me about novel writing, but how I can make N the best novel it can be