The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Procedural Rhetoric and the Military-Entertainment Complex: Two Case Studies from the War on Terror

IF 1.7 Q2 COMMUNICATION

Media War and Conflict Pub Date : 2020-06-01 DOI:10.1177/1750635219828761

Matthew Spokes

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引用次数: 3

Abstract

This article explores how the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea is represented in video games developed and played during the height of the War on Terror. Drawing on Šisler’s article, ‘Digital Arabs: Representation in video games’ (2008) and Robinson’s articles ‘Videogames, persuasion and the War on Terror: Escaping or embedding the military-entertainment complex? (2012) and ‘Have you won the war on terror? Military videogames and the state of American exceptionalism’ (2015), this article explores two case studies Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005) and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2 (2004) using Bogost’s (2008, 2010) concept of ‘procedural rhetoric’ to unpack and detail the visual signifiers and gameplay mechanics of these titles in comparison with other work on games set in ‘Axis of Evil’ countries. The article concludes by situating the games within the military-entertainment complex more broadly (here focusing on film), arguing that North Korea is ultimately framed paradoxically in video games, a country that is viewed on the one hand as a threat to world peace and on the other as an absurdist dictatorship.

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朝鲜民主主义人民共和国，程序性修辞和军事-娱乐综合体:反恐战争中的两个案例研究

这篇文章探讨了朝鲜民主主义人民共和国是如何在反恐战争高峰期开发和玩的电子游戏中表现出来的。参考Šisler的文章《数字阿拉伯人:电子游戏中的表现》(2008)和Robinson的文章《电子游戏、说服和反恐战争:逃避还是嵌入军事娱乐综合体?》(2012)和“你赢得反恐战争了吗?”文章最后将游戏置于更广泛的军事娱乐综合体中(这里主要关注电影)，认为朝鲜最终在电子游戏中被矛盾地框定，一个国家一方面被视为对世界和平的威胁，另一方面又被视为荒谬的独裁政权。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Media War and Conflict COMMUNICATION-

CiteScore

3.60

自引率

15.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： Media, War & Conflict is a major new international, peer-reviewed journal that maps the shifting arena of war, conflict and terrorism in an intensively and extensively mediated age. It will explore cultural, political and technological transformations in media-military relations, journalistic practices, and new media, and their impact on policy, publics, and outcomes of warfare. Media, War & Conflict is the first journal to be dedicated to this field. It will publish substantial research articles, shorter pieces, book reviews, letters and commentary, and will include an images section devoted to visual aspects of war and conflict.