My academic journey has been one of defying conventions. After a PhD in Arabic Studies, I pivoted away from philology into what I call “explorative humanities”. In both teaching and research, I seek approaches that transcend academic habitus: meta-science, reader-centric writing, syndicating science, environmental humanities, game studies, data visualization, and AI – all constitute spaces of creative inquiry for me. Rather than confining my work to traditional publication venues, I share my explorations openly via my “No Discipline” blog, Zenodo, and the website for my postdoc project META-STRAND – platforms that foster collaborative exchange with fellow trailblazers.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4483-4026
The Apocalypse Within: Portraying Psychological Resilience through Games like Hellblade
FROG 2024 – Talk
In the haunting opening of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, the Celtic warrior Senua paddles through a fog-laden river, her mind assailed by whispering voices. “Why is she doing this?… Turn back… You’re going to die,” they murmur, amplifying the miasma of dread shrouding her quest to retrieve her lover’s soul from Helheim. This chilling introduction establishes not just the game’s mythological foreboding, but also the more insidious threat – Senua’s imprisoning psychosis, an “inner apocalypse” to be overcome.
Where most apocalyptic video game narratives focus on external, existential threats like environmental disasters, wars or plagues, Hellblade turns inward, exploring the deeply personal “inner apocalypses” that can stem from mental health challenges. It unflinchingly depicts one woman’s battle against the torment of haunting delusions, her mind a psychological wasteland to traverse.
Yet Senua’s odyssey is ultimately one of resilience – harrowing, but undergirded by the indomitability of the human spirit. Her journey forces players to confront not just external dangers, but the supremely challenging terrain of the psyche itself. In this way, Hellblade reframes conceptions of the apocalypse, positioning mental illness not just as a prop for narrative exigency, but as an urgent human condition deserving of empathy, understanding, and respect.
This talk explores how Hellblade models mental health resilience and coping mechanisms within an apocalyptic framing. It posits games like this as invaluable educational tools, simulating psychological crises in immersive ways distinct from other media. Beyond awareness, they offer therapeutic potential by allowing players to experience, process, and overcome inner anguish alongside protagonists. Games that blend inner and outer apocalypses provide a vital perspective, namely that threats of the mind can prove as catastrophic as any meteor or risen AI overlord, but also that even our most dire psychological straits harbor rays of hope for rebirth and transcendence.
As apocalyptic anxieties swell, this inclusive conception of the apocalypse is indispensable. For it humbles us to the inescapable frailties shaping the human experience, while inspiring resilience in facing our collective existential threats, inner and outer alike.
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