{"product_id":"playing-american-9783111244846","title":"Playing American","description":"\u003cp\u003eVideogames have always depicted representations of American culture, but how exactly they feed back into this culture is less obvious. Advocating an action-based understanding of both videogames and culture, this book delineates how aspects of American culture are reproduced transnationally through popular open-world videogames. \u003cem\u003ePlaying American\u003c\/em\u003e proposes an analytic focus on open-world videogames' \"ambient operations\" and traces practices of \"playing American\" through the stages of videogame development, gameplay, and reception. Three case studies – concentrating on the \u003cem\u003eGrand Theft Auto\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWatch Dogs\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eRed Dead Redemption\u003c\/em\u003e franchises, respectively – highlight different figurations of \"playing American.\" Thematic foci range from public discourses on systemic racism and neoliberal capitalism to the justification of real-world surveillance practices and to the reconfiguration of the Western in the digital age. \u003cem\u003ePlaying American\u003c\/em\u003e provides those interested in either videogames or American culture with a fresh angle and new concepts regarding its subject matters. It demonstrates that videogames are agents of cultural reproduction that do distinct cultural work for American culture in the twenty-first century. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sören Schoppmeier","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48265280356603,"sku":"9783111244846","price":87.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_806d2b36-3601-4ea1-9a9c-14bec2fc7d69.jpg?v=1774539794","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/playing-american-9783111244846","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}