Department of Comparative Literature
A Genealogy of Skyrim Modding: Critical Digital Theory and Gaming
Since Bethesda Softworks released The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in 2011, people from all over the world have uploaded 50,000-60,000 mods, i.e. player-created video game “modifications”, to different platforms on the internet. Similar to many collective creative works that have emerged online over the last few decades, the magnitude, variety and cultural diversity embodied in this cultural phenomenon has made it difficult to employ the traditional method of critical reading. Using the modding phenomenon of TESV: Skyrim as an example, this research develops and outlines the method of genealogy, a critical-historical reading digital culture on the basis of critical theory. By drawing from Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze, I expand on Shane Denson’s notion of digital seriality and argue that, while mods are indeed made up of differences from and repetition of the original game data of TESV: Skyrim, profoundly they are manifestations of “modded” Skyrim. Therefore Skyrim modding is a continuous process of actualization of “modded” Skyrim, a virtual entity which has no definitive or original version, a multiple without center or organizing structure: what Alain Badiou calls a pure multiple. In accordance to Badiou’s mathematical ontology, I axiomatize “modded” Skyrim. This shows that, on the one hand, “modded” Skyrim consists of an infinite amount of sub-multiples of varying size, and on the other, it is made up of elements both within and beyond “modded” Skyrim itself. Moreover, while “modded” Skyrim always operates in a particular state, events such as emergence of new modding tools have changed the ecology of Skyrim modding over and over again, forcing “modded” Skyrim to evolve. The study of such paradigmatic evolution and its continuous manifestations in difference and repetition constitutes what I call the method of genealogy. To exemplify the methodological framework, I analyze two sub-multiples of modded Skyrim: gameplay mods and quest mods, as distinguished families. I contrast each family of mods against the actual game and investigate how they interact with other families, and at the same time outline how each family has evolved in the face of modding events. I also carry out close reading of 2-3 paradigmatic mods from each family. Apart from actual game assets, I have referenced discussion threads from 7 different modding sites as well.
The seminar will focus on the theoretical framework of genealogy.
About the Speaker
Mr Harry Yeung is a second-year MPhil candidate in the Comparative Literature Department, University of Hong Kong, from where he also graduated from in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree. His research interests focus on critical theory, video game culture and online creative community
Date and Time: April 18, 2018 17:00-1800
Venue: RRST 4.04
Respondent: Mr Wayne Wong