This
dissertation investigates archival work concerning the history and preservation
of queer games and play experiences. Current scholarship in archival practice,
queer history, and game studies focus on archival methods, the history of games
in general, or the queerness of games in the present, without a specific focus
on the intersection of archives and preservation of games and play experiences.
This study therefore asks the following questions: What efforts are being made
in game studies to preserve the history of games and those who play them? What
do those methods look like in comparison to an archive of queer games
constructed by and concerning the experiences of queer people? What can game
studies do to more accurately preserve and lift up the voices of marginalized
groups in gaming culture? To answer these questions I developed a six move
methodology that interweaves interdisciplinary areas, including archival
practice, queer theory, games history, and the lived experience of the author
as a queer and transgender individual: 1) Weaving methodological strands
together; 2) Defining a transparent method for insider research; 3)
Decolonizing and redefining axes of marginalization; 4) Integrating queerness,
game studies, and interdisciplinarity; 5) Turning to the archives; and 6)
Enacting and maintaining activism, advocacy, and community. The study conducts
two case studies examining efforts in archiving and preservation to lift up the
voices of marginalized people, taking place at the Strong Museum of Play in
Rochester, New York, and the all-digital LGBTQ+ Video Game Archive,
respectively. The cases find that both archives engage in efforts to preserve
queer gaming history to not only preserve history but look to the future and
how to best serve marginalized populations. This occurs through collaboration
between communities and sharing resources between archives and examining the
interaction between the Strong and the LGBTQ+ Video Game Archive provides
insight into practical methods for preserving and lifting up marginalized
voices in gaming history, including larger archives providing resources to
assist smaller archives with access and long-term storage. Collaborative
efforts to preserve specific queer video games such as <i>Caper in the Castro</i>
provide specific examples of the two archives working together towards ensuring
queer game history is preserved and accessible to scholars and gamers in the
future. Highlighting the collaborative work and connections between the case
studies demonstrates that the methods in use to preserve queer history rely on
queer archival practices like community interaction and collaboration to best
serve marginalized communities in the preservation of their histories and
experiences
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/15044310 |
| Date | 26 July 2021 |
| Creators | Lee W Hibbard (11177289) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Preserving_Play_Archival_Practice_in_Queer_Game_Studies/15044310 |
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