Date of Award
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Communication
First Advisor
Jeremy D. Johnson
First Committee Member
Graham Carpenter
Second Committee Member
Teresa Bergman
Abstract
Video games and academia have a long history with one another. Academic researchers have continued to debate the extent to which video games can materialize real world effects. In this thesis, I employ procedural rhetoric and feminist scholarship to analyze the rhetorical power of God of War. I focus on the game’s immersive procedures and the performances of masculinity from Kratos, Atreus, and Baldur. These three characters all perform different masculinities, and their interactions with one another inform the game’s portrayal of masculinity and fatherhood. By engaging in violence and depicting nuanced performances of masculinity, God of War positions the player to recognize harmful hegemonic masculine norms and their effects on men and their relationships. This is rhetorically significant, as God of War’s interrogation of hegemonic masculinity encourages players to interrogate hegemonic masculine norms in the material world.
Pages
103
Recommended Citation
Morgan, Andrew A.. (2020). God of War: Masculinity and Fatherhood Through Procedural Rhetoric. University of the Pacific, Thesis. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/3703
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Game Design Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Rhetoric Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons
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