Publication:
Multiplicity, relationality, and petal avatars: Thatgamecompany’s Flower as an identity model

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Date
2022-11-17
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Authors
Belmonte Ávila, Juan Francisco
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Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2022.2148630
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Description
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This document is the Published version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2022.2148630
Abstract
This article explores non-human looking avatars as models for alternative conceptions of identity. Thatgamecompany’s Flower is used here as the specific example of a more general model for Game and Cultural Studies scholars to think about the representation and reproduction of relationality and identity through avatars that are not designed to resemble human or animal-like beings. The avatar is discussed here in relation to its visual and aural configuration, the actions it affords, and the way controls are designed around it. Flower breaks with many of the standards and expectations that can be found in most games and, in doing so, it puts forward a notion of identity as an entanglement of humans, nonhuman beings, and objects. Game and Cultural Studies scholars interested in finding a broader, more diverse way of discussing identity representations will find here a useful resource
Citation
Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, Vol. 37, N. 1, 2023, pp. 61-73
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