Illuminating Lenses


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Black Representation: A Critical Analysis of Contemporary Gaming

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Edward Knight  

The representation of Black characters in video games remains a contested space, shaped by industry practices, player reception, and broader socio-political narratives. This research employs a multi-method qualitative framework—including in-depth interviews with industry professionals, immersive gameplay analysis, and online ethnographic observations,—to critically examine Black representation in 8th and 9th generation video games. By triangulating developer intentions, player discourse, and in-game representation, this study interrogates whether progress in diversity translates into meaningful character development, narrative depth, and equitable player agency. Findings might reveal possible tensions between industry rhetoric and player experience, highlighting recurring tropes, community-driven modifications, and gaps in representation. This paper discusses key insights from the study, emphasising the necessity for continued critical engagement with race, digital culture, and gameplay.

Framing the Pirates of Somalia: A Critical Meta-Analysis

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Franklin Nii Amankwah Yartey  

After a long hiatus, the pirates of Somalia have resumed piracy activities, and this has resurrected global concerns about this crisis on the high seas, warranting continuous attention. This study is a critical meta-analysis examining existing research on the Somali Pirates, their representation in the media, and academic research. This study also aims to identify alternative discourses surrounding piracy on the high seas by integrating and interpreting the findings of various studies, thereby deepening our understanding of this complex maritime security issue and social phenomenon. Drawing on Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism and Stuart Hall’s notion of representation, the study identifies three themes: Somali Pirates as Redemptive Criminals, Dehumanizing Somali Pirates, and Somali Pirates as Security Threats.

Smartphone Multitasking from Dawn to Dusk in the Light of Empirical Research in China

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Yan Miao  

Our smartphones sit beside our plates and accompany us to bed; they are carried into gyms and bathrooms. We scroll while cooking, walking, talking on the phone, or watching TV series. Smartphones have become constant companions in everyday life, capturing our attention during routine activities related to hygiene, eating, working and entertainment. These mundane tasks, increasingly interrupted by scrolling, became the focus of our research initiated in 2024, when we surveyed young adults in China (N = 363) about their mindless scrolling behaviors. The online questionnaire reveals the intensity of smartphone multitasking among young Chinese in process of conducting daily activities including brushing teeth, cooking, driving, working and so on, the rhythm of which is dictated by the stimuli and information that appear on the screens of smartphones. The results presented in this paper is a part of outcomes from the #HumanePhone international research and education project, which is based at the Jagiellonian University in Poland. The #HumanePhone project aims to examine smartphone use habits among individuals from different countries and cultural backgrounds, who speak different languages but use their phones in a very similar way.

Digital Media

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