Mythopoeic narrative in the Legend of Zelda / edited by Anthony G. Cirilla and Vincent E Rone.

New York, NY : Routledge, 2020.

©2020

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Anthony G. Cirilla is Assistant Professor of English Literature at College of the Ozarks and associate editor of Carmina Philosophiae, the Journal of the International Boethius Society. He received his PhD in English literature from Saint Louis University and has published and presented extensively in both Boethius and videogame studies. Vincent E. Rone (PhD, 2014, UC Santa Barbara) writes, composes, teaches, and performs. He specializes in sacred-music reforms of Catholic France and the music of fantasy, notably The Lord of the Rings and The Legend of Zelda franchises. He currently is co-editing an anthology, Nostalgia and Videogame Music.

The Legend of Zelda series is one of the most popular and recognizable examples in videogames of what Tolkien referred to as mythopoeia, or myth-making. In his essay On Fairy Stories and a short poem entitled Mythopoeia, Tolkien makes the case that the fairy tale aesthetic is simply a more intimate version of the same principle underlying the great myths: the human desire to make meaning out of the world. By using mythopoeia as a touchstone concept, the essays in this volume explore how The Legend of Zelda series turns the avatar, through which the player interacts with the in-game world, into a player-character symbiote wherein the individual both enacts and observes the process of integrating worldbuilding with storytelling. Twelve essays explore Zelda's mythmaking from the standpoints of literary criticism, videogame theory, musicology, ecocriticism, pedagogy, and more.

Taylor & Francis. EBA 2024-2025.

Books / Online

English

August 08, 2024

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Zelda, Mythopoeia,and the Importance of Developing an InsidePerspective on Videogames Anthony G. Cirilla Foundations: Mythmakers and Myth-Players Chapter 1. Digital Mythopoeia: Exploring modern myth-making in The Legend of ZeldaAlicia Fox-Lenz Chapter 2. Extrapolative Silence in Mythopoeic Spectacle, or,Whydoes Link Look so Bored? Thomas Rowland Chapter 3Curiositasand Critical Glitches:SpeedrunningThe Legend of Zelda Ethan Smilie The Legend of Zelda: Entrance into Mythopoeic Structure Chapter4.The Hero ofFaerie:TheTriforceand Transformational Play in Link's Mythopoeic Journey Anthony G.Cirilla Chapter 5.Twilight andFaerie:The Music of Twilight Princess as Tolkienesque Nostalgia Vincent E. Rone Chapter 6. The Domestic Champion inThe Legend of Zelda: The WindWaker Michael David Elam There's Something Mything Here: Problems of Counter-Structure or Contra-Structure in Zelda's Mythopoeic Methods Chapter 7.You Played the Ocarina Again, Didn't You!!:Catastrophe and the Aesthetics of Evil inOcarina of Time Nathan Schmidt Chapter 8.A Link Across Adventures:Literacy's Relevance toTime inThe Legend of ZeldaSeries' Mythopoeia MatthewSautman Chapter 9. Haunted by Heroes: Mythology & Hauntology in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's MaskDamian Asling The Legend of Pedagogy: Theory and Practice Chapter10. The Hero of Time:The Legend of Zeldaas Children's Literature ChamutalNoimann& Elliot H. Serkin Chapter 11.Take Away the Sword:Teachingfor Creativity and Communication withtheLegend of Zeldain Art History David Boffa Chapter 12.Regenerative Play and the Experienceof the Sublime inThe Legend ofZelda:Breathof the Wild GeraldFarca Alexander Lehner Victor Navarro-Remesal.