Developing video games is an iterative and demanding process. It is difficult to achieve the goal of most video games — to be enjoyable, engaging and to create revenue for game developers — because of many hard-to-evaluate factors, such as the different ways players can interact with the game. Understanding how players behave during gameplay is of vital importance to developers and can be uncovered in user tests as part of game development. This can help developers to identify and resolve any potential problem areas before release, leading to a better player experience and possibly higher game review scores and sales. However, traditional user testing methods were developed for function and efficiency oriented applications. Hence, many traditional user testing methods cannot be applied in the same way for video game evaluation. This thesis presents an investigation into the contributions of physiological measurements in user testing within games user research (GUR). GUR specifically studies the interaction between a game and users (players) with the aim to provide feedback for developers to help them to optimise the game design of their title. An evaluation technique called Biometric Storyboards is developed, which visualises the relationships between game events, player feedback and changes in a player's physiological state. Biometric Storyboards contributes to the field of human-computer interaction and GUR in three important areas: (1) visualising mixedmeasures of player experience, (2) deconstructing game design by analysing game events and pace, (3) incremental improvement of classic user research techniques (such as interviews and physiological measurements). These contributions are described in practical case studies, interviews with game developers and laboratory experiments. The results show this evaluation approach can enable games user researchers to increase the plausibility and persuasiveness of their reports and facilitate developers to better deliver their design goals. Biometric Storyboards is not aimed at replacing existing methods, but to extend them with mixed methods visualisations, to provide powerful tools for games user researchers and developers to better understand and communicate player needs, interactions and experiences. The contributions of this thesis are directly applicable for user researchers and game developers, as well as for researchers in user experience evaluation in entertainment systems.

Totalement érigée autour de la question de la transgression, l'œuvre cronenbergienne, en exposant des comportements considérés comme déviants ainsi que des modes de sexualités allant à l'encontre des modèles normatifs propres à la culture mainstream, semble difficilement catégorisable. À la fois à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur du système hollywoodien, le réalisateur de La Mouche joue avec les codes génériques les plus éculés pour en proposer une véritable alternative. De ses débuts dans le cinéma underground, avec des œuvres telles que Stereo et Crimes of the future, à ses films les plus ''grand public'', comme A History of Violence et Les Promesses de l'ombre, le cinéaste a toujours mis à mal les horizons d'attentes de ses spectateurs. La transgression, chez Cronenberg, ne se résume cependant pas à la seule représentation de la violence et de la sexualité. Elle est un élément structurel majeur qui lui permet de garder une certaine singularité tout en évitant la redite. Comme nous le verrons, tout au long de cette étude, David Cronenberg, bien qu'il se soit progressivement détaché du genre du ''body horror'', s'est toujours intéressé aux mêmes thématiques que celles-ci touchent le corps, l'esprit, la famille ou encore la science. En allant jusqu'à adapter des œuvres littéraires jugées inadaptables (Le Festin Nu, Crash et Cosmopolis), le cinéaste a également exposé son désir d'abolir les frontières entre les arts. Mêlant ses obsessions personnelles à celles d'autres artistes, Cronenberg confère à son œuvre un caractère hybride que viennent métaphoriser les innombrables corps mutants qui peuplent ses films. Cette étude sera structurée autour des quatre grandes formes de transgression constitutives de son œuvre : la morale, le corps, le réel et le cinéma. Il s'agira de montrer que la transgression, loin d'être un simple artifice, est la composante essentielle d'une œuvre qui n'a jamais cessé de se déconstruire pour mieux se réinventer. / Entirely built around the issue of transgression, Cronenberg's work, by exposing behaviors considered as deviant, as well as modes of sexuality going against normative models proper to mainstream culture, seems difficult to categorize. Both inside and outside the Hollywood system, the director of The Fly plays with the most hackneyed generic codes to offer a real alternative. From his beginnings in underground cinema, with works such as Stereo and Crimes of the Future, to his most 'mainstream' films, such as Eastern Promises, the filmmaker has always diverted the expectations of its spectators. However, Cronenberg's transgression is not just about portraying violence and sexuality, it is also a major structural element that allows it to keep a certain singularity while avoiding repetition. Although, David Cronenberg gradually detached himself from the genre of "body horror", as we will see throughout this study, he has always been interested in the same themes that affect the body, mind, family or even science. By going so far as to adapt literary works deemed unadaptable (Naked Lunch, Crash and Cosmopolis), the filmmaker also exposed his desire to abolish the boundaries between the arts. Cronenberg gives his work a hybrid character that metaphorize the innumerable mutant bodies that populate his films by mixing his personal obsessions with those of other artists. This study will be structured around the four major forms of transgression that constitute his work: morality, body, reality and cinema. It will be necessary to show that the transgression, far from being a mere artifice, is the essential component of a work that has never ceased to be deconstructed to better reinvent itself.

From the early 1980s until the late 1990s the genre or sub-genre known as sword-&-sorcery was largely moribund. The Tolkien-derived high fantasy novel, on the other hand, flourished and mutated into six, eight, ten volume, or open-ended series. Even though the terms high fantasy and sword-&-sorcery are sometimes used interchangeably, sword-&-sorcery came to be viewed as an inferior, cruder form: rougher in style, more limited structurally, stunted in terms of character development, even morally questionable (rather than ambiguous). Revivifying the Ur-text aims to investigate if it is possible to subvert the genre, to create a work that realizes the form s potential to exist as literature . In order to do this it attempts to both analyze and re-vision the form by rendering the genre down to its pristine elements - exemplified but not monopolized by the widely-acknowledged creator of the sword-&-sorcery form, Robert E. Howard. The critical areas of the thesis thus concentrate on Howard, but extend backwards to Beowulf as proto-sword-&-sorcery and forwards to contemporary fantasy writers such as Joe Abercrombie and Steve Erikson. It begins by constructing an account of the creation of the form by Howard, hypothesizing that the conditions for its genesis are a result of the writer s internal emotional and thought processes interacting with external circumstances. This is followed by a study of a set of highly influential anthologies published in the sixties edited by Lyon Sprague de Camp, interrogating de Camp s introductions as well as his selections, sub-categorizing these into the variations on the Howardian model which evolved in the wake of his 1920/30s work, work from which other writers developed a commonly perceived genre. From this the thesis proceeds to a consideration of related forms such as epic fantasy, science fantasy, and grimdark, prefaced by a survey and analysis of what sword-&-sorcery was/is perceived to be by commentators such as de Camp, Brian Attebery and Peter Nicholls. These sections are followed and augmented by a refocusing on Robert E. Howard. A consideration of the crucial relationship between violence and the numinous in his fantasy is central to this thesis. This is done both through research into published texts, mainly fictional but also non-fictional, and is discussed both generally and through in-depth case studies of two stories, attempting to identify the particular elements of his writing which contributed to the birth and definition of sword-&-sorcery in order to establish Howard s output as an Ur-text . The creative heart of this research is my sword-&-sorcery fiction, The Shadow Cycles. Here I have attempted to write a narrative in the form which innovates narrative techniques, modifying or abandoning the generic scaffolding of situations, and methods of characterization, and developing a style of language appropriate to my aim of revisioning Howard s Ur-text for the 21st century. This is followed by a concluding afterthesis which draws on all the preceding sections to explicate the relationship between the critical and creative elements of the thesis. As with earlier critical sections, these recruit a synthesis of literary history, influence studies, genre theory, narratology, and practical criticism. By so doing they touch on conceptions of the literary such as those of Bakhtin, Eagleton, Todorov, and Katherine Hume.

Min uppgift och syfte med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka om Zwi RJ Werblowskys teori om messianism kan appliceras på texten Mio, min Mio. Den andra uppgiften har varit att pröva om hypotesen att texten Mio, min Mio av författarinnan Astrid Lindgren innehåller messianska föreställningar stämmer. Till min hjälp tog jag religionshistorikern Zwi RJ Werblowskys artikel: "Messiah and Messianic movement". Utifrån hans text kunde åtta typologiseringar utkristalliseras. Dessa var; tiden, messiasfiguren, ledaren, mytologiseringen och de dualistiska delarna visionärt-rationellt, aktiv-passiv, konservativa regler-revolutionära regler och inklusive-exklusive. Jag använde mig av närläsning som metod. I arbetet presenteras både slutsatser och en diskussion utifrån tidigare forskning kring dessa. Det har varit intressant att blanda olika discipliner i denna uppsats. Jag har använt mig av en religionshistorisk modell på en skönlitterär text, vilket kan ses som fruktbart och utvecklande för framtida forskning.

Atualmente, a literatura juvenil é direcionada para o entretenimento e lazer do leitor, com personagens marcantes e histórias que despertam a imaginação por meio dos recursos da fantasia. Obras juvenis de sucesso e popularidade entre os jovens nos mostram que a leitura pode ser prazerosa quando não é obrigatória. Considerando o interesse dos jovens leitores em literatura de fantasia e entretenimento, com base nos estudos de pesquisadores dessa área e em nossa experiência em sala de aula, onde vimos que relacionar alguns temas científicos com a fantasia tornava a aula mais atrativa e compreensível para os alunos, decidimos explorar as possibilidades de aplicação das obras dessa vertente no ensino de Ciências. Selecionamos quatro séries juvenis para explorarmos suas potencialidades no ensino, são elas: Lucky Starr de Isaac Asimov, Artemis Fowl de Eoin Colfer, Como treinar seu dragão de Cressida Cowell e Percy Jackson e os Olimpianos de Rick Riordan. Estas séries possuem o enredo baseado em recursos da fantasia. O percurso gerativo do sentido da semiótica greimasiana, nos auxiliou como referencial de análise na verificação de como a ciência é representada nos livros de fantasia. De maneira geral, vimos que a ciência está presente nas séries de forma implícita, através da tecnologia e seres imaginários como fadas, deuses e dragões. Por ser mais recente e conhecido entre o público, selecionamos o livro O Ladrão de Raios, primeiro livro da série Percy Jackson e os Olimpianos, para o desenvolvimento de atividades e aplicação. As atividades foram aplicadas em uma escola municipal de São Paulo SP, dentro de um projeto de clube de leitura denominado LUCIA (Leituras Universais e Ciência Investigativa para Adolescentes), organizado pelo grupo de pesquisa no qual este trabalho faz parte. O público alvo foi formado por alunos do 8º e do 9º ano do ensino fundamental, com participação dos professores da escola e alunos de graduação da EACH-USP, que atuaram como monitores. Aplicamos duas atividades com uma hora e meia de duração cada, e nossos objetivos foram de verificar se os alunos perceberiam como a ciência estaria representada no livro O Ladrão de Raios, por meio da leitura de trechos da obra, discussão, elaboração de desenhos e questionários, que indicassem a compreensão dos alunos sobre a relação entre a ciência e a mitologia grega presente no livro. Como resultado, depreende-se que a obra escolhida foi viável para a discussão de temas científicos implícitos na história. Além do mais, acreditamos que a literatura juvenil, mais precisamente as obras lidas e admiradas pelos alunos, podem ser utilizadas em sala de aula, permitindo que a ciência seja divulgada, explorada e questionada por meio da fantasia. / Currently, juvenile literature is intended for entertainment and leisure of the reader, with remarkable characters and stories that awaken the imagination through fantasy resources. Juvenile works of success and popularity among young people show us that reading can be enjoyable when it is not mandatory. Taking into account the interest of young readers into fantasy and entertainment literature, based on the studies of researchers in this field and in our experience in the classroom, where we saw that relating some scientific issues with fantasy make the lessons more attractive and understandable for students we decided to explore the possibilities of application in teaching science. We have selected four juvenile series to explore their potential in teaching, they are: Lucky Starr by Isaac Asimov, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell and Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan. These series have the plot based on fantasy resources. The generative trajectory of the greimasian semiotics helped us as an analytical reference in the verification of how science is represented in fantasy books. Overall, we have seen that science is implicitly present in series, through technology and imaginary beings such as fairies, gods and dragons. Because it is more recent and known among the public, we have selected the book The Lightning Thief, the first book of Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, for development activities and application. The activities were implemented in a public school of São Paulo-SP, in a book club project called LUCIA (Portuguese acronym for Universal Readings and Investigative Science for Teenagers), organized by the research group in which this work is part. The target audience consisted of students from the 8th and 9th grade of elementary school, with participation of school teachers and undergraduates of the EACH-USP, who acted as monitors. We applied two activities with an hour and a half each, and our goals were to assess whether the students would realize how science would be represented in the book The Lightning Thief, by reading the book excerpts, discussion, preparation of drawings and questionnaires, to indicate the students\' understanding of the relationship between science and Greek mythology in this book. As a result, it seems that the chosen literary work was feasible to discuss scientific issues implicit in the story. Moreover, we believe that juvenile literature, specifically the books that are read and admired by students, can be used in the classroom, allowing science to be disseminated, exploited and questioned through fantasy.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo ensaiar aplicações de estruturas topológicas interpretadas psicanaliticamente ao estudo do transe de possessão na umbanda, entendido como enunciação irredutível ao estritamente verbal. Para esse efeito, o sujeito (instância enunciante) e o Outro (no caso, presentificado pelo mundo dos espíritos) são considerados como diferentes funções que se alternam em uma superfície moebiana (unilateral). Utiliza-se o método psicanalítico lacaniano em contextos sociais por meio de uma reconceptualização do método etnográfico, denominada de escuta participante, mediante participação e interação em terreiros de umbanda na qualidade de consulente. Com base no teorema geral das superfícies que, por meio de transformações homeomórficas, iguala três planos projetivos a um plano projetivo mais um toro, desenvolveu-se em linha com a topologia lacaniana duas vertentes de análise a partir do mapeamento da cadeia significante tecida na relação transferencial. Uma baseia-se no corte em oito interior e a outra no furo (estrutural à composição das superfícies). De um ponto de vista, a possessão pode ser compreendida em função da lógica inconsciente (fantasia), que relaciona as operações de produção do sujeito (alienação e separação) com a operação do corte que modifica sua estrutura, apresentando-o como dividido sem, no entanto, ser dois. De outro, ela pode ser compreendida como uma forma enunciativa que narra uma fantasia pressupondo uma escuta que não se restringe ao auditivo estrito senso, mas que é inclusiva do olhar e do cinestésico associado ao movimento. Com esta modelagem, alcança-se ampliar a pesquisa social e a escuta analítica a processos de enunciação espaço-temporais desatrelados da consciência, do psiquismo individual e da subordinação a uma concepção de interioridade psíquica os quais, por outro lado, também são desvinculados do social e da história como exteriores ao sujeito. / This work aims to assay applications of topological structures psychoanalytically interpreted to the study possession trance in Umbanda, which is comprehended as a kind of enunciation irreducible to strictly verbal. The subject (enunciative instance) and the Other (in this case, materialized in the spirits world) are considered as different functions that alter themselves in a moebian (one-sided) surface. The Lacanian psychoanalysis method is used in social contexts after reconceptualizing the ethnographic method, now denominated participant listening. The researcher participated and interacted in Umbanda temples in the capacity of consultant. Based on the general theorem of surfaces that, through homeomorphic transformations equals three projective planes into a projective plan plus a torus, two analytical versions were developed from the mapping of the significant chain webbed in the transferencial relationship. One relies on the interior eight cut and the other one on the hole (structural to the surfaces composition). In a point of view, the possession can be understood as derived from the unconscious logic (fantasy) that relates the operations of the subjects production (alienation and separation) with the cut operation that modifies the structure, presenting the divided subject but not in two pieces. From another point of view, the possession can be thought as an enunciative form that describes a fantasy, which is not restricted to the hearing strict sense, but includes the gaze and the kinesthetic associated with the movement. After this modeling, social research and analytical listening are amplified to space-time enunciation processes released from consciousness, from individual psychism and from the subordination of an interiority psychic conception. They are also disentailed from the social and the history comprehended as exterior to the subject.

abstract: The study of genre literature in general, and fantasy or fairy tale literature in particular, by its very nature, falls outside the normal course of literary theory. This paper evaluates various approaches taken to create a framework within which scholarly research and evaluation of these types of genre literature might occur. This is done applying Secondary World theory to better-established literary foci, such as psychological analysis and monster theory while still respecting the premises posited in traditional literary inquiry. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis English 2019

This dissertation posits a crucial and profound relationship between the Victorian crisis of faith and the simultaneous emergence of fantasy and science fiction novels. Grouping these genres under the term "supernatural novel," the following chapters examine this relationship through close readings of novels published between 1818 and 1897, showing the variety of ways in which this new type of literature spoke to a Victorian sense of being caught between a staunchly traditional religious faith and a newly accessible agnostic materialism. At times, for example, these texts suggest ways to negotiate a compromise between these two viewpoints, and at others they voice a longing for the experience of religious belief in previous centuries. Charles Taylor's A Secular Age highly informs the readings of these novels in its articulation of the complexity of the Victorian religious crisis, emphasizing changes in the character and experience of belief, even for the majority of Victorians who remained devout Christians. Taylor's seminal work joins with histories of religion, biographies, reviews and articles from Victorian periodicals, and theories of genre to discuss how the supernatural novel can uniquely address the anxieties and frustrations inherent to the crisis of faith. Through combining the literary form of the novel, strongly associated with realism and secular ways of knowing, with fantastic and imaginary content, this expanding genre reflected the "cross pressures" of faith and rationalism experienced by a Victorian readership.

Anxiety disorders are some of the most prevalent mental illnesses in the United States, and young adults have developed a variety of coping mechanisms to deal with their symptoms. One of the most common is escapism, or the act of escaping reality by delving into alternate stimuli, fantasies, or media content, but this often leads to social or emotional isolation. Cooperative roleplaying games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, can alleviate symptoms of anxiety disorders while facilitating social interaction through escapism, creative thinking, play, and community building. The companion piece to this paper, Reflections of Fate, is a D&D 5e quest specifically designed with challenges and storylines to further these potentially healing effects.

The Gamer Who Destroyed the World and Other Stories from my Life is the framework of a memoir about the extrapolation of utopic ideology upon bodies. It chronicles the author's life and lineage, examining themes of family, gaming, technology, gender, domestic violence, and economics. The memoir is divided into a prologue, three chapters, and an epilogue. The prologue is a scene depicting the teenaged author at a Live Action Role Play ("larp") game. The first chapter focuses upon the author's family history and her childhood experience of growing up in low-income housing in the 1990s, during which she creates meaning by working for money, until her childhood is disrupted by two expulsions: the expulsion of meaning from the "franchise" workplaces of her teens, and an abrupt expulsion from her childhood home. The second chapter flips between two realities: the author's anxiety as she struggles with homelessness while pushing herself through the American university system, and her adventures in the nerd subculture of the 2000s, focusing on her transition from cosplay (pretending to be fictional characters at genre conventions) to larp (pretending to be part of a fictional universe with others at a campground, dance club, or other physical location). The third chapter jumps forward to the authors' life in a Bay Area cooperative house during the Occupy Movement in 2011. The epilogue jumps back in time to 2006 to describe the author's final experiences larping, and the text concludes with her reflections on the concepts of consent and utopia.