Video Games between Postcolonialism and Postcommunism

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Video Games between Postcolonialism and Postcommunism

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Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2026

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This book is in the series

Volume 19 | Video Games and the Humanities

About this book

This volume sets out to investigate video games’ complex entanglement with colonial legacies. By means of its methodological diversity, it offers a rich perspective on the ideological working of coloniality in video games at the intersection with multiple other power structures and economic systems. Besides Global North/South and West/East tensions, it also focuses on postcommunist contexts and their bearings on video games.

Author / Editor information

Andrei Nae, Lecturer, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania.

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Frontmatter
I

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Dedication
V

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Preface
VII

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Acknowledgements

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Contents
V

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Introduction
1
Andrei Nae

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Colonial Realism in Video Games
23
Andrei Nae

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Shenmue II, Postcolonialism, and the Rise of Neoliberalism
55
Ryan Kerr

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Representation Troubles of Women in Video Games: The Colonial/Modern Gender System
77
Aline Conceição Job da Silva

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Aloy, the Colonial Entrepreneur: Colonial Realism in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West
103
Andrei Nae and Eirini Bourontzi

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Posthumanist Concerns in the Colonial Construction of Human Occupation of Outer Space in EVE Online
123
Karina Pătrășcanu

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Colonizing Space: Terra Nullius and No Man’s Sky
141
Angshuman Dutta

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In the Ashes of Earth and the Absence of Empire: The Colonial Starfield
157
Rareş Moldovan

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Anti-Balkanism in The Witcher
179
Andrei Zanescu

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Self-Exoticizing Iterations of (Post)communism in Black: The Fall
205
Andrei Călinoaia

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Romania in Resident Evil Village: Colonial Power Relations in the Japanese-American-Romanian Imagological Triangle
229
Andrei Nae

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Hybrid Primordiality: Colonial Emplotment and Objectscapes in Assassin’s Creed
247
Stefan Baghiu and Anca Simina Martin

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List of Contributors

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Index

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

December 5, 2025

eBook ISBN:

9783111622750

Hardcover published on:

December 5, 2025

Hardcover ISBN:

9783111622514

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Front matter:

14

Main content:

271

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111622750

eBook ISBN: 9783111622750

Hardcover ISBN: 9783111622514

Keywords for this book

postcolonialism; video games; postcommunism; cultural studies_x000D_

Audience(s) for this book

Scholars and students in game studies, area studies, postcolonialism, postcommunism, and cultural studies

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Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin; productsafety@degruyterbrill.com

Video Games between Postcolonialism and Postcommunism

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Frontmatter

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgements

Contents

Introduction

Colonial Realism in Video Games

Shenmue II, Postcolonialism, and the Rise of Neoliberalism

Representation Troubles of Women in Video Games: The Colonial/Modern Gender System

Aloy, the Colonial Entrepreneur: Colonial Realism in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West

Posthumanist Concerns in the Colonial Construction of Human Occupation of Outer Space in EVE Online

Colonizing Space: Terra Nullius and No Man’s Sky

In the Ashes of Earth and the Absence of Empire: The Colonial Starfield

Anti-Balkanism in The Witcher

Self-Exoticizing Iterations of (Post)communism in Black: The Fall

Romania in Resident Evil Village: Colonial Power Relations in the Japanese-American-Romanian Imagological Triangle

Hybrid Primordiality: Colonial Emplotment and Objectscapes in Assassin’s Creed

List of Contributors

Index

Video Games between Postcolonialism and Postcommunism

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgements

Contents

Introduction

Colonial Realism in Video Games

Shenmue II, Postcolonialism, and the Rise of Neoliberalism

Representation Troubles of Women in Video Games: The Colonial/Modern Gender System

Aloy, the Colonial Entrepreneur: Colonial Realism in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West

Posthumanist Concerns in the Colonial Construction of Human Occupation of Outer Space in EVE Online

Colonizing Space: Terra Nullius and No Man’s Sky

In the Ashes of Earth and the Absence of Empire: The Colonial Starfield

Anti-Balkanism in The Witcher

Self-Exoticizing Iterations of (Post)communism in Black: The Fall

Romania in Resident Evil Village: Colonial Power Relations in the Japanese-American-Romanian Imagological Triangle

Hybrid Primordiality: Colonial Emplotment and Objectscapes in Assassin’s Creed

List of Contributors

Index

Bibliographic data