Description
Book SynopsisWhile the assessment of digital games in Germany is framed by a high-culture critique, which regards them as an ‘illegitimate’ activity, they are enjoyed by a wider demographic as a ‘legitimate’ pastime in Australia. The book analyses the social history of digital gaming in both countries and relates it to their socio-cultural traditions. Concerning social history, Australia almost depicts an inverse mirror image of Germany. Its foundational dynamics, closely associated with different egalitarianisms, led to a different form of distinction than in Germany – a country whose national self-conception was closely related to groups which perpetuated an idealistic notion of
Kultur and later integrated it into a rigid class system. The book not only demonstrates how the discourses on games follow long-established patterns of rejection and approval of mass media but also regard them as an access to the inner workings of both societies. How the games are perceived tells us a lot about German and Australian identity.
Table of ContentsContents: German identity – German history – Australian identity – Australian history – Distinction – Mass culture – Popular culture – Mass media – Digital games – Videogames – Game history – Game discourses – Media history – Cinema – Radio – Television – Kultur – Zivilisation – Egalitarianism – Bushman – Norbert Elias – Pierre Bourdieu – Gerhard Schulze – Theodor W. Adorno – Frankfurt School.
