CfP: Game Canon & Game History

Virtual workshop on 13 February 2024 

Games have developed into a significant form of cultural expression, important to archive and to investigate in relation to other established cultural forms. They are collected by various cultural institutions. The selection of computer games varies not only with regard to the profile of the institution, but also in relation to format, accompanying material, and in particular the consoles which are used. For pragmatic reasons, collecting institutions define specific criteria for the cultural objects to be collected. How can these criteria be defined for a game collection in order to achieve a documentation of game history that is as broad, varied, and diverse as possible? Is it possible to apply the debates about canon found in literature and film studies, as well as the practices bound up with them like retrospectives in cultural centers and film museums, to games? What are the milestones of game culture? Which approaches present themselves for games, and how are they different from other media and archival practices? What, beyond the code or the game board, should be archived in game collections? What is of interest in terms of game mechanics, technology, and narrative? What relations of dependence present themselves between software and hardware? Can the history of games be written in national terms? What does a pluralistic game history or a game history from below look like? These questions will be discussed over the course of this workshop’s four sections. 

Format: Three ten-minute presentations per theme, followed by 15-20 minutes of questions and discussion. 

Focus 1: Criteria and Concepts of Collection 

Focus 2: Game Mechanics Milestones 

Focus 3: Technical Milestones in Game Archiving 

Focus 4: Canon Critique and Canon Debate in Game Studies?
● Please submit a proposal with a length of max. 10 paragraphs/sentences for a 10-minute presentation by 15 November 2023. Orientation towards one of the 4 themes above is advised.
● Please attach a short CV/list of publications.
● Please submit your abstract via this portal.
● The language of the workshop is English. 

Concept and Organization: Dîlan Canan Çakir (Freie Universität Berlin, EXC2020 “Temporal Communities”) Anna Kinder (DLA Marbach, Forschungsverbund MWW) Andreas Rauscher (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Hochschule Kaiserslautern Virtual Design, AG Games)