Playing the Myth: Video Games as Contemporary Mythology
Issue: Vol 21 No. 1 (2018)
Journal: Implicit Religion
Subject Areas: Religious Studies
DOI: 10.1558/imre.34691
Abstract:
As attention to popular culture academically grows, we can begin to see the connection between myth and popular culture. If myths are those narratives an individual or communities uses to understand themselves and the world around them, popular culture narratives have the increasing ability to fill this role. Video games, the largest entertainment industry in the world, make up contemporary mythology. However, saying video games are myth is significantly easier than actually attempting to study video games as myth. This paper seeks to demonstrate not only the connection between myth and video games, but also a theoretical approach to the study of the mythic video game. By using "implicit myth", a term which allows us to see the larger influence and experience of myth, we can detail a theoretical approach possible for the video game as myth.
Author: Vivian Asimos
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