Spotting Queerness: A ‘Too-close Read’ Interpretation of Undertale
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.mut/v16n1a12Keywords:
queer studies, localization, identity, video games, too-close readingAbstract
Despite the widespread perception of the video game world being hostile towards the queer community, which has often been underpinned by the industry itself through its technological, commercial, and cultural apparatus, both worlds share essentially a set of characteristic features linking the experience of non-heteronormative people to the dynamics, logic, and experiences posed by videogames. Beyond superficial analyses exclusively based on representation, this in-depth study of the narratological and ludic aspects of videogames allows us —from a queer perspective— to situate ourselves outside the hegemonic frontiers of the industry and to seek different ways of being that resonate in the queer community. This article draws from the too-close reading of the American videogame Undertale and seeks to identify the counter-hegemonic patterns that allow us to locate and localize the reflection of so many socially invalidated expressions of the queer experience. This reflection —which goes beyond representation as it allows us to understand video games even as a queer platform— intends both to emphasize the importance of localization processes and those sex and gender issues transcending the explicit content of video games.
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