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Title INTERSECTIONS OF DISABILITY AND LUDOLOGY: A STUDY OF THE SOCIAL IMAGINARIES OF DIFFERENTLY ABLED VIDEO GAMERS IN THE SELECTED POPULAR CULTURE FICTIO

Author(s) eeman sehar

Abstract Title: Intersections of Disability and Ludology: A Study of the Social Imaginaries of Differently Abled Video Gamers in the Selected Popular Culture Fiction This study explores the production of a gaming culture and how it shapes the social imaginaries and leads to the formation of gaming identities of differently abled gamers in Gabriele Zevin’s Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Keith Stuarts’s A Boy Made of Blocks. I have employed the concept of “Gamer Identity” by Graeme Kirkpatrick as a reading prop to position gaming as a cultural practice. This cultural practice is a major force for transforming societies and is shaped by the society in return. I have further triangulated my theoretical support with Charles Taylor’s concept of “Social Imaginary”. It facilitates comprehending how the selected gamers may conceptualise their social interaction after the establishment of their gaming identities. Moreover, Jean Baudrillard’s theorising of “Hyperreality” is taken as a supporting lens for reading the two primary texts. It helps highlight the creation of a hyperreal world within a video game which is a virtual commodity and an artistic display of capitalism. The creation of these kinds of gaming spaces may provide accessibility to differently abled gamers. Consequently, through such ludic practices, they create their own virtual avatars and may attain a sense of autonomy, interactivity, and emancipation from day-to-day inequalities. The study has also deployed Tobin Siebers’ concept of “Complex Embodiment” that enforces the acceptance of disability as a human variation. This concept is helpful to substantiate the representation of differently abled gamers. The research is qualitative in nature and has used textual analysis as a research method. It is expected that this investigation productively contributes to the field of Ludology and Disability Studies.

Type Thesis/Dissertation

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Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2025-06-20

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