Date of Award
5-2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Communication Studies
Committee Member
Dr. David Blakesley, Committee Chair
Committee Member
Dr. Cynthia Haynes
Committee Member
Dr. Matthew Boyer
Committee Member
Dr. David Donar
Abstract
Affective Gaming is an intervention in the field of game studies, designed to address the lack of racial diversity in games. I examine the role that emotion plays in games by melding game studies and rhetorical theory with affect theory and critical identity studies. I build a theory of gaming that is attuned to the way games provoke emotion in players in order to bring a new understanding of identity to game studies. I then turn towards a theory of game design that uses affect toward a rhetorical end, and finally turn this toward games in the classroom. I also produce a video game prototype to accompany the dissertation to illustrate the intersection of mechanics and narrative that I write about, and to show what is possible when games are considered rhetorically.
Recommended Citation
Wood, Joshua A., "Affective Gaming: At the Intersection of Rhetoric, Affect, and Video Games" (2018). All Dissertations. 2095.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2095