National identity in historical video games

An analysis of how Civilization V represents the past

Bibliographic Data

ID7338124
AuthorsAndrés Bijsterveld Muñoz (Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume28
Issue4
Pages1311-1325
Publication date2022-04-28
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNations and Nationalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1345-5078 • E-ISSN: 1469-8129
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/nana.12845
OpenAlexW4293240923
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited22

Although the last two decades have seen a vast increase in studies that analyse banal nationalism in media, there is one medium that has largely been ignored in these discussions: video games. This article fills part of this gap by analysing the way in which the historical strategy game Civilization V represents the Past and what role it gives nations within historical processes. This video game was marketed globally by an American company, but it evokes Spanish, Japanese, and English nationalist narratives and imagery. Although globalization and nationalism are often framed as opposing forces, this is hardly the case here. This paper will combine insights of Game Studies and Nationalism Studies to illustrate how the elements that conform Civilization V incentivise and enable players to re‐enact a narrative that portrays essentialised nation‐states as the only relevant actors in the past, present, and future of humankind. Although a product of globalization, Civilization V strengthens rather than erodes national boundaries

Aesthetics · Art · Civilization · Globalization · Identity (music · Literature · Media studies · Multimedia · Narrative · National identity · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Video game · Computer Science · Digital Games and Media · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access