In Another Time With (an)other Race: Representations Of Race And National Narratives In Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim And Fallout 3
Abstract
The video games Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 3 provide simulations of systems of racial marginalization within the context of competing narratives of nation. By utilizing Ian Bogost’s concept of unit operations in concert with postcolonial theorists Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, and Gayatri Spivak it is possible to see how these games perpetuate discourses of the human Western Self and the non-human racial Other. Despite the limitations in the simulation presented in these games, they reflect how video games offer the potential for simulating real-life systems of discrimination and marginalization.