ABSTRACT

In this article I discuss close reading as a methodology for feminist game studies. Due to its centralization of the researcher’s own interpretations, close reading can be a particularly fruitful methodology for marginalized scholars discussing the ways games construct, position, and portray their own identities. However, this intimacy can also result in vulnerability, in part because reactionary and conservative members of the gaming community continue to insist that video games should be “just for fun” and push back against reading “too much” into them. This pushback has been directed in particularly hostile ways towards feminist critics and scholars who interpret game narratives or characters as misogynistic, homophobic, or racist. Yet, in order to make positive change happen, more feminist research on games needs to reach the broader public and intimate social justice-oriented close reading must become normalized rather than niche. In this sense, close reading can be both a methodology and a political stance.

摘要

在这篇文章中，我将细读作为一种女权主义博弈研究的方法论来讨论。由于它集中了研究人员自己的解释，对于边缘化的学者讨论游戏构建、定位和描绘自己身份的方式，细读可能是一种特别富有成效的方法。然而，这种亲密关系也可能导致脆弱性，部分原因是游戏社区的反动和保守成员继续坚持认为电子游戏应该“只是为了好玩”，并反对“过多”地阅读它们。这种反击以特别敌对的方式针对女权主义评论家和学者，他们将游戏叙事或角色解释为厌恶女性、恐同或种族主义。然而，为了实现积极的改变，更多关于游戏的女权主义研究需要接触到更广泛的公众，而以社会正义为导向的亲密阅读必须变得正常化，而不是小众化。从这个意义上说，细读既可以是一种方法论，也可以是一种政治立场。