Horror-Game-Politics

Despite their ‘trashy’ image, horror video games are a deeply political genre.

Factsheet

  • Lead school Bern Academy of the Arts
  • Institute Institute of Design Research
  • Research unit Design and Rhetoric
  • Funding organisation SNSF
  • Duration (planned) 01.01.2018 - 30.09.2021
  • Project management Dr. Eugen Pfister
  • Head of project Dr. Eugen Pfister
  • Project staff Arno Görgen
  • Partner Schweizerischer Nationalfonds SNF

Situation

Relying on the distinction between ‘good’ and ‘evil’, horror games can help us better understand the cultural coordinates and the symbolic categories and values of a specific society. For example, collective identities are affirmed by the construction of an Other. Horror video games are therefore not only an interesting historical source to better understand specific societies and cultures, but also play an active part in creating societal reality.

Publications