From Ideology to Identity: An Examination of Disability Stereotyping within Video Games

从意识形态到身份：对视频游戏中残疾刻板印象的审视

• 批准号: 2718784
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2718784
• 关键词: Ideology; Identity; Examination; Disability; Stereotyping

Video games have become a vastly popular contemporary medium with a majority able-bodied player base and able-bodied led workforce. Consequentially, it has become a challenging platform for those who may be considered as 'peripheral subjects', including people with disabilities. Research indicates that categories or stereotypes of disability have circulated within alternate mediums such as books, films and theatre to generate stock disabled characters. This thesis examines whether these disabled categories are present within video game characters and how these stereotypes may affect the disabled gaming community both within gaming and within wider societal power structures. With the foundation of historical disability theory, this thesis examines the origins of noted disabled stereotypes such as the monster, pitiable, and comedic relief. It explores how these stereotypes may impact the formation of disabled identity with consideration of freakism, masking and 'performing'/ 'being' disabled. It also explores how these formed disabled identities interact with the panopticon/power structures and how these power shifts and relationships between disabled/able-bodied persons can generate internalized and externalised gazes. It explores the potential of a disabled gaze and how this gaze could re-examine disabled stereotypes from the position of 'peripheral subject' rather than through the power of the centre. This thesis will also examine posthumanism and transhumanism as core themes within video games. It will examine how purposeful disablement and cybernetic enhancement is implemented as game mechanic and the potential effects this may have upon disability and disabled identity. It examines lived experiences of cyborg and how cybernetic enhancement could destabilise the structure of the panopticon through the introduction of categories of super cripple and super able-bodied. Based upon a series of gaming sessions and prior disabled theory research a series of semi-structured interviews will be conducted with a group of disabled gaming participants. The aim of these interviews is to explore how the researched categories of disabled characters impact the disabled player, whether these categories have been noted by the disabled player previously and how the disabled player believes these stereotypes are impacting wider understandings of disability. Additionally, these semi-structured interviews will examine how games are made accessible for the disabled participants. It will explore preferred controllers, accessible game features, and which games are accidentally accessible to disabled players. These interviews will allow for a deeper understanding of the impacts of disability stereotyping and representations within this popular medium. These interviews will also generate a wish-list of accessibility features, characters, and representations by disabled players for a game which is accurate and accessible.

电子游戏已经成为一种非常受欢迎的现代媒体，拥有大多数健全的玩家基础和健全的领导团队。因此，对于那些可能被视为“边缘主体”的人，包括残疾人，它已经成为一个具有挑战性的平台。研究表明，残疾的类别或刻板印象在书籍、电影和戏剧等替代媒介中流传，以产生固定的残疾角色。本文将探讨这些残疾类别是否存在于电子游戏角色中，以及这些刻板印象如何在游戏和更广泛的社会权力结构中影响残疾游戏社区。在历史残障理论的基础上，本文探讨了残障形象的起源，如怪物、可怜、喜剧救济等。它探讨了这些刻板印象如何影响残疾身份的形成，考虑到怪胎，面具和“表演”/“成为”残疾。它还探讨了这些形成的残疾人身份如何与圆形监狱/权力结构相互作用，以及这些权力转移和残疾人/健全人之间的关系如何产生内化和外化的目光。它探索了残疾人凝视的潜力，以及这种凝视如何从“外围主体”的位置重新审视残疾人的刻板印象，而不是通过中心的力量。本文还将研究后人类主义和超人类主义作为电子游戏的核心主题。它将研究有目的的残疾和控制论增强如何作为游戏机制实现，以及这可能对残疾和残疾身份产生的潜在影响。它考察了半机械人的生活经历，以及通过引入超级残废和超级健全的类别，控制论增强如何破坏圆形监狱的结构。基于一系列的游戏会议和先前的残障理论研究，我们将对一组残障游戏参与者进行一系列半结构化的访谈。这些访谈的目的是探讨残疾角色的研究类别如何影响残疾玩家，残疾玩家之前是否注意到这些类别，以及残疾玩家如何认为这些刻板印象影响了对残疾的更广泛理解。此外，这些半结构化的访谈将考察游戏如何为残疾参与者提供可访问性。它将探索首选控制器，可访问的游戏功能，以及哪些游戏无意中可以访问残疾玩家。这些访谈将使人们更深入地了解这种流行媒体对残疾的刻板印象和表现的影响。这些访谈还将生成残疾人玩家对游戏的无障碍功能、角色和表现的愿望清单，以确保游戏的准确性和易用性。