Playing with Identity. Authors, Narrators, Avatars, and Players
in The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide
Hans-Joachim Backe, Jan-Noël Thon
This article offers a comparative analysis of Davey Wreden's The Stanley Parable (Wreden 2011 / Galactic Cafe 2013) and The Beginner's Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd. 2015) in order to explore the interrelation of authors, narrators, avatars, and players as four salient functions in the play with identity that videogames afford. Building on theories of collective and collaborative authorship, of narratives and narrators across media, and of the avatar-player relationship, the article reconstructs the similarities and differences between the way in which The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide position their players in relation to the two games' avatars, narrators, and (main) author, while also underscoring how both The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide use metareferential strategies to undermine any overly rigid conceptualization of these functions and their interrelation.
DIEGESIS. Interdisciplinary E-Journal for Narrative Research
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https://www.diegesis.uni-wuppertal.de/index.php/diegesis/article/download/357/565
Dive into the research topics of 'Playing with Identity. Authors, Narrators, Avatars, and Players
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Beginners Arts & Humanities 100%
Avatar Arts & Humanities 94%
Parable Arts & Humanities 88%
Players Arts & Humanities 71%
Narrator Arts & Humanities 71%
Strategy Use Arts & Humanities 37%
Video Games Arts & Humanities 33%
Cafe Arts & Humanities 31%
Backe, H-J., & Thon, J-N. (2019). Playing with Identity. Authors, Narrators, Avatars, and Players
in The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide. DIEGESIS. Interdisciplinary E-Journal for Narrative Research, 8(2), 1-25. https://www.diegesis.uni-wuppertal.de/index.php/diegesis/article/download/357/565
Backe, Hans-Joachim ; Thon, Jan-Noël. / Playing with Identity. Authors, Narrators, Avatars, and Players
in The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide. In: DIEGESIS. Interdisciplinary E-Journal for Narrative Research. 2019 ; Vol. 8, No. 2. pp. 1-25.
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title = "Playing with Identity. Authors, Narrators, Avatars, and Players
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abstract = "This article offers a comparative analysis of Davey Wreden{\textquoteright}s The Stanley Parable (Wreden 2011 / Galactic Cafe 2013) and The Beginner{\textquoteright}s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd. 2015) in order to explore the interrelation of authors, narrators, avatars, and players as four salient functions in the play with identity that videogames afford. Building on theories of collective and collaborative authorship, of narratives and narrators across media, and of the avatar-player relationship, the article reconstructs the similarities and differences between the way in which The Stanley Parable and The Beginner{\textquoteright}s Guide position their players in relation to the two games{\textquoteright} avatars, narrators, and (main) author, while also underscoring how both The Stanley Parable and The Beginner{\textquoteright}s Guide use metareferential strategies to undermine any overly rigid conceptualization of these functions and their interrelation.",
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Backe, H-J & Thon, J-N 2019, 'Playing with Identity. Authors, Narrators, Avatars, and Players
in The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide', DIEGESIS. Interdisciplinary E-Journal for Narrative Research, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 1-25. <https://www.diegesis.uni-wuppertal.de/index.php/diegesis/article/download/357/565>
Playing with Identity. Authors, Narrators, Avatars, and Players
in The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide. / Backe, Hans-Joachim; Thon, Jan-Noël.
In: DIEGESIS. Interdisciplinary E-Journal for Narrative Research, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2019, p. 1-25.
T1 - Playing with Identity. Authors, Narrators, Avatars, and Players
in The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide
AU - Backe, Hans-Joachim
AU - Thon, Jan-Noël
N2 - This article offers a comparative analysis of Davey Wreden's The Stanley Parable (Wreden 2011 / Galactic Cafe 2013) and The Beginner's Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd. 2015) in order to explore the interrelation of authors, narrators, avatars, and players as four salient functions in the play with identity that videogames afford. Building on theories of collective and collaborative authorship, of narratives and narrators across media, and of the avatar-player relationship, the article reconstructs the similarities and differences between the way in which The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide position their players in relation to the two games' avatars, narrators, and (main) author, while also underscoring how both The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide use metareferential strategies to undermine any overly rigid conceptualization of these functions and their interrelation.
AB - This article offers a comparative analysis of Davey Wreden's The Stanley Parable (Wreden 2011 / Galactic Cafe 2013) and The Beginner's Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd. 2015) in order to explore the interrelation of authors, narrators, avatars, and players as four salient functions in the play with identity that videogames afford. Building on theories of collective and collaborative authorship, of narratives and narrators across media, and of the avatar-player relationship, the article reconstructs the similarities and differences between the way in which The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide position their players in relation to the two games' avatars, narrators, and (main) author, while also underscoring how both The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide use metareferential strategies to undermine any overly rigid conceptualization of these functions and their interrelation.
JO - Diegesis
JF - Diegesis
Backe H-J, Thon J-N. Playing with Identity. Authors, Narrators, Avatars, and Players
in The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide. DIEGESIS. Interdisciplinary E-Journal for Narrative Research. 2019;8(2):1-25.