{"product_id":"9783030896065","title":"Rules of the Father in The Last of Us : Masculinity Among the Ruins of Neoliberalism (Palgrave Studies in (Re)Presenting Gender) (1st ed. 2022. 2023. xi, 148 S. XI, 148 p. 7 illus. 210 mm)","description":"Widely regarded by critics and fans as one of the best games ever produced for the Sony Playstation, \u003ci\u003eThe Last of Us\u003c\/i\u003e is remarkable for offering players a narratively rich experience within the parameters of cultural and gaming genres that often prioritize frenetic violence by straight white male heroes. \u003ci\u003eThe Last of Us\u003c\/i\u003e is also a milestone among mainstream, big-budget (AAA) games because its development team self-consciously intervened in videogames' historical exclusion of women and girls by creating complex and agentive female characters. The game's co-protagonist, Ellie, is a teenage girl who is revealed to be queer in \u003ci\u003eThe \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eLast of Us: Left Behind\u003c\/i\u003e (DLC, 2014) and \u003ci\u003eThe Last of Us II\u003c\/i\u003e (2020). Yet \u003ci\u003eThe Last of Us\u003c\/i\u003e also centers Joel,  Ellie's fatherly protector.\n\nHow is patriarchy, the rule of the father, encoded in rule-based systems like videogames? How does patriarchal rule become an algorithmic rule and vice-versa? These questions are at the heart of this book, the first comprehensive scholarly analysis of the zombie apocalypse\/ action-adventure\/ third-person shooter videogame \u003ci\u003eThe Last of Us\u003c\/i\u003e (2013). On the one hand, the book is a close, extended study of \u003ci\u003eThe Last of Us\u003c\/i\u003e and its themes, genres, procedures, and gameplay. On the other hand, the book is a post-GamerGate reflection on the political and ethical possibilities of progressive play in algorithmic mass culture, of which videogames are now the dominant form. \n\n\n \u003cp\u003eChapter 1. Introduction: Spoiler Alert.- Chapter 2. Prologue: Father Fails.- Part I. Summer.- Chapter 3. Quarantine Zone: American Dystopia.- Chapter 4. The Outskirts: Fridging Tess.- Chapter 5. Bill's Town: No Country for Gay Men.- Chapter 6. Pittsburg and Suburbs: Sacrificial Blackness .- Part II. Fall.- Chapter 7. Tommy's Dam and The University: The New Frontier.- Part III. Winter.- Chapter 8. Lakeside Resort: Reversal.- Part IV. Spring.- Chapter 9. Bus Depot, Firefly Lab, and Jackson: What a Dad's Gotta Do.- Conclusion: Good Riddance, Joel!  \u003c\/p\u003e\n J. Jesse Ramirez is Assistant Professor of American Studies at University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.","brand":"SPRINGER, BERLIN; SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING;","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49224196522211,"sku":"00000_00000_00000_00000","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/usa.kinokuniya.com\/products\/9783030896065","provider":"Books Kinokuniya USA","version":"1.0","type":"link"}