(Re)Playing Cultural Memory: The Why and How of Studying Nostalgia in Video Games
Schedule
Thu, 11 May, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Location
Oasis at University of Tampere | Tampere, ES
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At a time when nostalgia seems to be the key in terms of writing about the past, Dr. Diego A Mejía-Alandia explores the cultural, socioeconomic and ludological implications of nostalgia, providing some insights on why and how to study such a phenomenon and its cultural objects.The study of nostalgia is as old as the concept itself. Nostalgia has been the subject of many research fields since it was first recognized as an incurable part of the human condition back in 1688. Understood as a symptom of our times, nostalgia has connections with almost every other aspect of our lives, including a complex association with key concepts such as memory, affect, identity and ideology, as well as a conflicted relationship with history, philosophy and economy on account of its ties with the worlds of fashion, design, mass media, and popular culture which includes, of course, video games.
Dr. Diego A Mejía-Alandia is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Seville (Spain) and a Visiting Researcher at Tampere University’s Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies, and at the Game Research Lab. He holds a BA degree in German Literature; an MFA in Literary and Cultural Studies; an MA in Translation and Interculturality; an MA in Scriptwriting, Narrativity and Audiovisual Creativity; and PhD in Philological Studies from the University of Seville.
His research focuses on phenomena of memory and identity involved in cultural processes derived from national history—such as generational trauma, interculturality, migration, or nostalgia—as well as the ties of cultural/national memory and individual/collective identity with material and popular cultures. Currently, he holds a two-year Margarita Salas grant funded by the Spanish Ministry of Universities and the European Union (NextGenerationEU) to work on an individual project on representations of post-communist nostalgia in video games, VR and digital experiences.
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Where is it happening?
Oasis at University of Tampere, Kanslerinrinne 1,Tampere, FinlandEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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