GAME OCCULTURE: WESTERN ESOTERICISM AND ADVENTURE COMPUTER GAMES
Study of Religion 2018 DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662.2018.2.131-139 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Western esoteric and occulture elements in 1990s adventure computer games contributed to their commercial success, and that these occult plots are secondary to film and literature yet succeed commercially because they meet players' recognition and expectations. Proposes that C. Partridge's occulture theory and the Birmingham school's three-phase model of cultural circulation (production, consumption, identity) together frame this interdisciplinary analysis. |
Abstract
The article discusses the possible perspectives of interdisciplinary research, standing on the border of the study of culture and religion. The author proposes to illustrate the specificity of such interdisciplinary character on the example of manifestation of Western esotericism in adventure computer games of the 90s. In the first part of the article main occulture myths are identified with the help of methodological frame of the part is C. Partridge’s theory of occulture. The author comes to the conclusion that the occulture makes the plot of games commercially successful. In the second part of the article the author refers to the theory of circulation of cultural product, developed by the Birmingham school of culture studies, in order to understand how from a research point of view, it is possible to use the knowledge of the deep occult influence on the industry of adventure games. The article discusses in detail the three phases of circulation: production, consumption and identity. The author concludes that occult plots and elements of computer games are secondary in relation to movies and literature, but this secondary character also provides them with the commercial success determined by recognition and justification of expectations of players.