ICMS, Kalamazoo 2020 : The Ludic Outlaw: Medievalism, Games, Sport, and Play

Roundtable sponsored by the International Association for Robin Hood Studies
International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS), Kalamazoo 2020

Cross-platform video games are now so popular as to constitute a financial threat to Netflix and other digital content services. One feature of many of these games is the ludic outlaw figure—found, for example, in the 2016 multiplayer Overwatch—that works to resist oppression within the game world. Because they signify popular definitions of justice and communal welfare, modern digital outlaws frequently evoke medieval outlaw representations, such as Robin Hood. In what specific ways do enduring medieval outlaw tropes function as model responses to oppression in modern games?

This roundtable session seeks 10- to 15-minute papers that interrogate the role(s) of any outlaw figure that fights for popular interests in games. Though particular attention will be given to papers that include an examination of a digital ludic outlaw, submissions concerned with tabletop games, live action role-playing games, and others will be considered. Analyses of the ways in which ludic outlaw figures are poised as responses to the dominant narrative within gaming culture are especially welcome.

Please send your 250-word abstract, Participant Information Form (https://wmich.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/u434/2019/medieval-pif-2020.pdf), and brief bio to Gayle Fallon at [email protected] by September 15, 2019.