Date of Publication

3-12-2019

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Political Science

Subject Categories

Gender and Sexuality

College

College of Liberal Arts

Department/Unit

Political Science

Thesis Adviser

Antonio P. Contreras

Defense Panel Chair

Levita A. Duhaylungsod

Defense Panel Member

Dennis S. Erasga
Jeremy C. de Chavez

Abstract/Summary

Amid the prominence and popularity of video game culture, it has changed dramatically – aesthetically and intellectually over time. Accompanied with the latest technological advancements, many video game companies have responded to the necessity of forwarding ideological views through its medium. The top-down approach of power could be observed in video games wherein, as cultural commodities of the video game industry, it is set to send and transmit ideological messages. This study utilized semiotic analysis to understand the meaning of signs and how this meaning is formed behind video games created by different video game companies. Utilizing the framework of Stuart Hall of the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies on mass media, the researcher will look into the critical narratives of video games as a popular culture phenomenon where gender formations are constructed relative to a cultural hegemony rendered by video game companies. This study explores how ideologies relative to gender formations are veiled as signs accompanied with meanings. Finally, the study also delves into the impact of video games, especially on how players depict dominant gender constructions and, provides a critical examination of trends to see if it goes against the status quo.

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Format

Electronic

Accession Number

CDTG008048

Keywords

Gender mainstreaming; Video game characters; Semiotics

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Embargo Period

3-13-2023

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