Asbj¿rnsen
Asbj¿rnsen, Dag
Email: dag@filmtilsynet.no
Abstract: Digital Games and Politics: a Medium in Search of a Discourse
Digital games is a relatively new medium, and har only recently been given a space in public discourse (e.g. the press) and in academia. This has to do with the social position of games in general, being considered as activities for children not to be taken seriously. The dominating political discourse about games has been one of concern about the possible harmful effects games might have on children.
Recently one has seen efforts to create alternative discourses about digital games to change the position they occupy in political and public sphere. One strategy har been to position digital games within the age-long game culture, other strategies are to argue that games are an art form, a means of communication, and even a new type of sport.
The paper will, from an discouse analytical theoretical position, examine the ways in which digital games are constructed as part of the public spere, and how alternative and more positive political and public discourses are constructed. The paper will take the experiences in Norway as a point of departure and also point to some new political measures being taken a a result of these more "positive" discourses.
Bio:
Dag Asbj¿rnsen is an Adviser for New media at the Norwegian Board of Film Classification. He is a Cand. Philol. from the Dept. of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo, where he also has worked as a lecturer. He is deeply involved in the creation of a Digital games rating system for Europe, called PEGI, see www.pegi.info
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