Open AccessBioshock: Infinite as the Mirror of America?
Author(s) -
Jiří Kothera
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
central european journal for contemporary religion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2570-4893
pISSN - 2533-7955
DOI - 10.14712/25704893.2021.2
Subject(s) - fanaticism , narrative , mythology , elite , mainstream , frontier , exceptionalism , popularity , white (mutation) , irrationality , sociology , aesthetics , american exceptionalism , utopia , epistemology , history , politics , literature , art , art history , philosophy , political science , law , rationality , archaeology , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
Few mainstream computer games have caused such controversy as Bioshock: Infinite (2013). The third instalment of the Bioshock series is set in the fictional city of Columbia in an alternate history of the early twentieth century, which at first glance appears to be a perfect social utopia. After a while, however, the narrative begins to uncover the multilayered problems of society oppressed by a fraction of the white elite and religious fanaticism. The popularity of the game is not only due to the attractive audiovisual processing and complex game mechanics. It is primarily a story that uses an unprecedented amount of religious symbolism – especially Christian symbols, historical references, polysemic story elements, and a story based on the concepts of frontier myth and American exceptionalism. This work will deal with analysing these phenomena, especially those directly related to the religious and nationalistic topics in the United States.