Cancer on the Holodeck: Metaphors and Cultural Construction of a Disease through Digital Games

• Authors: Navarro-Sierra Nuria , Carrillo-Vera José Agustín , Gómez-García Salvador
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

A study from the OECD published that Cancer is one of the main causes of mortality in developed societies, with remarkably high prevalence, incidence and mortality rates for both sexes. This study closely examines nine digital games to elucidate how they conceptualize a disease like cancer around a narrative concerning the sickness, patients, treatments and outcomes. Discourse and content analysis techniques were applied to the message contained in the games looking to illuminate the connection between the narrative core, the audio-visual representation and the interactive aspects of the game, within the parameters of values-conscious design applied to digital games. This provides some evidence about the cultural and visual aspects of how game designers conceptualize the disease as a part of society. This research uncovers culturally embedded themes and reveals the prevalence of metaphor use in cancer discourse which relied on science, social support and spiritual convictions for social empowerment, building empathy and identification.

Keywords

EN

cancer; cultural industries; digital games; serious games

• Publisher: Fakulta masmediálnej komunikácie Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda
• Journal: Acta Ludologica
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 4-20
• Physical description: Media and Communication, Game studies, Theory of digital games
• Document type: Article

Contributors

author

Navarro-Sierra Nuria

• Rey Juan Carlos University, Department of Communication Sciences and Sociology

author

Carrillo-Vera José Agustín

• Valencian International University

author

Gómez-García Salvador

• University of Valladolid, Department of Early Modern History, Modern History and History of America, Journalism and Audiovisual Communication and Advertising