Games of archiving queerly: artefact collection and defining queer romance in Gone Home and Life is Strange
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Published Version
Date
2019
Authors
Drouin, Renee Ann
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Film and Screen Media, University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
The medium of video games often fails to depict queerness with positive representations. To combat the harmful stereotypes or optional queerness in the medium, I advocate for an application of queer archival methodologies to define and locate queerness in gaming. Queer archiving, with a focus on emotions, trauma, establishment of identity, and multimodality, pairs well with the digital nature of video games. Gone Home (2013) and Life Is Strange (2015), two video games with narratives reliant on the developing romantic relationships between teenage girls, grant us examples in which the inclusion of queerness is reliant on such archiving. Within each game, players gather artefacts to compile archives. In turn, these archives create irrefutable spaces in which queer content is included.
Description
Keywords
Archives , Artefacts , Digital , Queerness , Video games
Citation
Drouin, R. A. (2019) ‘Games of archiving queerly: artefact collection and defining queer romance in Gone Home and Life is Strange', Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, 16, pp. 24-37. https://doi.org/10.33178/alpha.16.02