MELNIC Vlad
Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii “Ovidius” Constanţa nr.29 / 2018 vol.2
MELNIC Vlad - THE CONTEMPORARY EPIC MODE: DIGITAL GAMES AND THE JOURNEY MOTIF (pag. 112–120 )
: As part of a project that investigates the translation of the epic mode in contemporary digital games, the present paper starts from the premise that the principal medium of epic production has shifted from literature, comic book franchises, and film to video games. More specifically, my aim is to explore the motif of the hero’s journey, which has always been congenital to the anthropological and literary category of the epic, and which has maintained its central position in fiction since the epics of the ancient world. Within the theme itself, the hero must face various trials, confrontations, and obstacles, which lead to a process of self-discovery, offering a cultural learning experience and a gateway to the exploration of knowledge about human existence in general. The same is maintained throughout video games designed in the epic mode, yet the configuration of the journey has suffered some changes in its translation towards the digital. At large, these revisions reflect the postmodern and posthuman turn, and therefore alter the fundamental process of initiation expressed through the journey motif. To illustrate the above, I propose a form of digital game criticism whereby I comparatively interpret the theme of the quest in its past and present manifestations.
Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii “Ovidius” Constanţa nr.28 / 2017 vol.2
MELNIC Vlad - LIBERTY AND LIMITATION: THE MULTIFACETED REPRESENTATION OF THE SEA IN VIDEO GAMES (pag. 177–185 )
VLAD MELNIC is an MA student of Irish literature at the Faculty of Letters, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. He has graduated in English and comparative literature, with a BA thesis focused on narrative embodiment in Salman Rushdie’s 2008 novel The Enchantress of Florence. His passion for storytelling and video games have steered him towards cultural studies and digital humanities