Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Nostalgia and World of Warcraft: Myth and Individual Resistance

Slodov, Dustin A.

Abstract Details

2008, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, Political Science (Arts and Sciences).
Using post-structuralist psychonanalytic theory and ludology theory, this analysis looks at the game World of Warcraft (Warcraft). It asserts that Warcrafts relationship to its players resembles society's connection to the individual: they both give a framework of myths, of unreality, from which the individual defines him/herself. Defining oneself from a constructed reality results understanding of self and others in terms of a constructed identity. This arouses a desire for a unified sense of self, a way to connect back to the real. However, this desire can turn into pathology, where players try to ascribe meaning onto others in a possessive and degrading manner. In their attempts to reconcile their disconnectedness, anxiety and melancholy, they can choose to avoid this pathology. Games can inscribe myths on players, but players can resist this through creative use of meaning, creating identity from the self rather than as myths dictate, and avoiding power relationships created from constructed identity.
Judith Grant (Advisor)
Michelle Frasher-Rae (Committee Member)
Mia Consalvo (Committee Member)
96 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Slodov, D. A. (2008). Nostalgia and World of Warcraft: Myth and Individual Resistance [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1212088472

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Slodov, Dustin. Nostalgia and World of Warcraft: Myth and Individual Resistance. 2008. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1212088472.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Slodov, Dustin. "Nostalgia and World of Warcraft: Myth and Individual Resistance." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1212088472

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)