Images of game and gamer in the space of literature and computer games

Abstract

The subject of this research is the images of game and gamers. In the space of literary work, they are arrayed in metaphorical and often demonic raiment, receiving moral-ethical interpretation in one or another way. The problem of game and gamer in criticism was regarded by Y. Mann (“On the Concept of Game as a Literary Image”), V. V. Vinogradov (“Style of the Queen of Spades”), E. Dobin (“Ace and Queen”, A. Pushkin’s “The Queen of Spades”), R. Caillois (“Games and People”), British writer and researcher of online games R, Bartle, American scientist Nick Yee, and many others. However, juxtaposition of literature sources on the topic to the research in the field of computer games is conducted for the first time. The scientific novelty consists in the comprehensive examination of the psychological game of the gamer based on the material of Russian literature (A. S. Pushkin “The Queen of Spades”, V. V. Nabokov The Luzhin Defense”) , as well as the modern computer games practice, in which psychological type of the gamer found its realization and development in accordance with genre diversity. Even the Russian classical literature depict game as an autonomous space that encompasses the gamer, and often has devastating effect on their personality. The author also observes an important characterological trait of the gamer: the conceptual, “literal” perception of the world, which is based on the reception of visual images of the world against verbal. Therefore, the Russian literature alongside the research practice of modern videogames from different angles approach examination of the images of “game and gamer”, cognize the factors and consequences of the problems that emerge in this object field, as well as seek for their solution. The data acquired in the course of the conducted comparative analysis is mutually enriching.