Farming computer games enable the ‘desk chair countryside’—millions of people actively engaged in performing farming and rural activities on-line—to co-produce their desired representations of rural life, in line with the parameters set by game creators. In this paper, I critique the narratives and images of farming life expressed in the popular computer game ‘Stardew Valley’. Stardew is based on a scenario whereby players leave a [meaningless] urban desk job to revitalize the family farm. Player are given a choice to invest in the Community Center or to support ‘JojaMart’, a ‘big-box’ development. The farming narrative demonstrates the hallmarks of classical American agrarianism: farming as the basic profession on which other occupations depend, the virtue of hard work, the ‘natural’ and moral nature of agricultural life, and the economic independence of the farmer. More recent discourses of critical agrarianism are noticeably absent, particularly in relation to environmental protection. Conflict is centred on urban-based big business, whereas the farm is represented as a ‘bolt-hole’ or sanctuary from urban life. I argue that embedding issues of big-box development in gameplay enrols players in active reflection and debate on desirable responses, whereas the emphasis on reproducing classical agrarian tropes risks desensitizing game players to contemporary agrarian social and environmental justice issues. However, Stardew Valley gameplay implicitly reinforces the ideal that low input farming is the way that agriculture should be practiced. The success of the game in eliciting on-line debates, and the requirement for active performance and decision-making, demonstrates the specific potential of computer games as mediums for influencing and intervening in ongoing reworking of farming imaginaries, and enabling more critically engagement of the ‘desk chair countryside’ in important global debates.

中文翻译：

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虚拟化“美好生活”：在电脑游戏中重构农业主义和乡村田园诗的叙事

农业电脑游戏使“桌椅乡村”——数以百万计的人积极参与在线农业和乡村活动——能够根据游戏创作者设定的参数共同制作他们想要的乡村生活表现形式。在这篇论文中，我批评了流行的电脑游戏“星露谷”中表达的农耕生活的叙事和图像。Stardew 是基于这样一个场景，玩家离开一个[毫无意义的]城市办公桌工作来振兴家庭农场。玩家可以选择投资社区中心或支持“大盒子”开发项目“JojaMart”。农业叙事展示了经典美国农业主义的标志：农业作为其他职业所依赖的基本职业，勤奋工作的美德，农业生活的“自然”和道德本质，和农民的经济独立。最近的批判性农业主义话语明显缺失，尤其是与环境保护有关的话语。冲突集中在以城市为基础的大企业，而农场则被描述为“螺栓洞”或远离城市生活的避难所。我认为，在游戏玩法中嵌入大型开发问题可以让玩家积极思考和辩论理想的反应，而强调再现经典农业比喻有可能使游戏玩家对当代农业社会和环境正义问题不敏感。然而，Stardew Valley 游戏玩法暗中强化了低投入农业是农业实践方式的理想。游戏在引发在线辩论方面的成功，以及对积极表现和决策的要求，