DiGRA Chapter for German-speaking Countries
Austria, Germany, and Switzerland (short D-A-CH)
Our intention is to develop a DiGRA chapter to represent Europe’s German-speaking countries Austria, Germany and Switzerland and to create an infrastructure to support conferences, research and publications representing the Chapter.
Game Studies in German-speaking Countries
There has been an academic and artistic discourse on computer- and videogames since the late 1990s in the German-speaking countries of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Quite a few exhibitions and experimental projects employed games as epistemic tools for knowledge construction. Early texts on videogame cultures, philosophical and sociological issues of computer games and a vivid artistic practice with the medium of computer games have been well recognized within the countries but have often not achieved international recognition. Even some of the texts that are now considered to be classics for German media studies have never been translated into English.
One of the reasons for a language-specific culture of thought on computer games might be found in the specificities of German media studies, philosophy and critical theory. Points of departure for German media studies can be identified in notions of “materialities of communication” combined with an emphasis on discourse analysis regarding historical research on the one hand, and critical theory on the other (Horkheimer, Adorno, Negt & Kluge on aesthetic theory and the culture industry, Freudian influences on “das Unheimliche”/“the uncanny”, psychology of play, politics in games, and horror game analysis). The dialogue between international game studies and the specific approaches found in the German-speaking countries has proved highly productive and has manifested itself in publications, exhibitions and artistic works.
Global perspectives of historical epistemology, affect studies, and material culture are current additions to the academic discussion on the subject matter as well as an emphasis on the links between game studies and other disciplines. The mutual exchange in research and academic discussion is shared between the D-A-CH chapter and other networks like the Game Philosophy Network and the International Committee for the History of Technology – with chapter members contributing to these circles. What combines these approaches is their shared assumption, that perception, emotion, technology and culture, as well as work and leisure are historically constructed.Therefore media are not neutral transmitters but constitutive shapers of their “message” and carriers of specific norms, values, conceptions of the human being, and models of reality. It is this constitutive aspect of media, their mediality, that is at the core of German media studies and in turn the kind of game studies practiced here.
Another root of D-A-CH research lies within artistic experiments. Members of our collective have been active building art games and staging game-oriented performances. Well-received exhibitions of the last years include Computerspiele von Künstlerlnnen (Dortmund), artgames (Ludwig Museum Aachen), Spiele der Stadt. Glück, Gewinn und Zeitvertreib (Wien Museum), and Kunst und Politik der Spiele (Kunsthalle Vienna). Chapter members have also conducted sociological investigations of the region on games as mass-media, as let’s play video entertainment, and as pedagogical tools, as for example Locus Ludi. The Cultural Fabric of Play and Games in Classical Antiquity (ERC Advanced Grant 2017–2022)
Early game theory published in German has potential to acquire a wider international readership if translated into English. An example of this gap can be found in 19th century psychological and philosophical texts, such as untranslated works by Karl Groos or Wolfgang Kaiser’s Goethe studies. Contemporary game theory and collectives in the region could also benefit from international exposure. Our chapter members are active in research groups including Experimental Game Cultures (University of Applied Arts in Vienna), Green Game Studies (Macromedia University), Gamification Lab (Leuphana University), and Ludomusicology (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf). News regarding conferences hosted by our members, and opportunities available within different institutions will be shared on the chapter’s website. Apart from scholarly exchanges, our members also communicate with the game design industry in clusters like Consumer-oriented XR Experiences (ArchLevel GmbH) or Media Reception (SNF Sinergia).
The D-A-C-H chapter welcomes exchange with other DiGRA chapters where approaches of German philosophy and Media Studies could enhance international Game Studies. Conversely, the chapter invites international partners for collaboration in professional and scholarly activities that other countries excel within, e.g. e-sports, streaming services, transmedia adaptations, or other perspectives. Our contacts to cultural and academic institutions, such as the Goethe Institute and universities within the region, will be a great resource to support early-career researchers and established scholars from abroad.