MEDIATIZATION METHODS OF FOLKLORE CHARACTERS IN VIDEO GAMES. THE CASE OF “YAGA” GAME

Abstract

The article is devoted to the mediatization of mythological characters of Slavic folklore by means of an example of the video game “Yaga”, created by Breadcrumbs Interactive studio in 2019. The mediatization of folklore allows us to see how traditional ideas are transformed when they get into the media environment and how folklore is “translated” into the language of the media. In this case, a computer game is considered as a text consisting of various (visual, verbal, etc.) signs. The author undertook structuralsemiotic analysis of the character system of video games that is used both in folklore and game studies to identify functions and plot roles, as well as visual, auditory, and other methods of media representation of game images borrowed from folklore. The article attempts to answer the following questions: are the functions of game characters similar to the functions of their folklore prototypes? Are there any similar stories in bylichki, or in this case we are dealing with completely fictional stories by the authors of games, which are only trying to be similar to folklore ones? Here it will be difficult to simply make a comparative scheme by comparing video game and folklore images, since the game does not have a full-fledged bestiary (a separate tab in the game menu where we could see full information about the character). In addition, all folklore characters can be conditionally divided into full-fledged opponents, who will have no other line of behavior besides the attack, and neutral to the hero, who can attack or make contact. In one case, we can talk exclusively about the external similarity, in the other we can focus on the plots of quests in which the character appears.