Portal Still Alive and Portal 2: Lessons from Critical Narrative Gaming Pedagogy

255 Pages·2016·1.21 MB·English

UCLA
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Portal Still Alive and Portal 2: Lessons from Critical Narrative Gaming Pedagogy
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4tt337vq
Author
Yamasaki, Lisa Josefina
Publication Date
2016

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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University of California
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles

Portal Still Alive and Portal 2:

Lessons from Critical Narrative Gaming Pedagogy

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the

requirements of the degree Doctor of Philosophy

in Education

By

Lisa Josefina Yamasaki
© Copyright by

Lisa Josefina Yamasaki

2016
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

Portal Still Alive and Portal 2:

Lessons from Critical Narrative Gaming Pedagogy

By

Lisa Josefina Yamasaki

Doctor of Philosophy in Education

University of California, Los Angeles, 2016

Professor Douglas M. Kellner, Chair

Due to the increasing popularity of video games in mass media culture, I will be
investigating one particular video game series, Portal: Still Alive and Portal 2, and the manner
by which players learn from them. After observing that most instructors use these games in
physics and math classes, I want to expand more on the way that video games enact a new story-
telling feature through experiential means, which also serves a pedagogical function. I assert that
players learn from games through their interactive gameplay, which allows them to engage with
the game narrative that contains ideological content embedded through portrayal of characters,
plot development, use of imagery and text, and thematic development. Thus, I develop my
model of video game literacy through interactivity with a game narrative.
My model, Critical Narrative Gaming Literacy, provides a construction of game narrative
comprising of thematic development as the central component encompassing the development of
the other narrative elements such as plot, character, use of symbols, setting, and point of view. A
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new form of Cultural Studies that incorporates the study of video games, Critical Narrative
Gaming Literacy is informed by theorizations in Cultural Studies, Critical Pedagogy, and
Psychoanalysis as articulated in Literacy Theory. In my analysis of the game series, I investigate
the narrative using a means of comparison to Jacques Lacan’s reading of Antigone and examine
themes of the sublimated death drive, violence, and sado-masochism, since I experienced those
themes manifesting through plot and character development and the use of symbols. Due to the
interactive nature of video games and variability in gameplay, I also capture the manner by
which undergraduate players experience the narratives differently from each other. Thus, taking
a phenomenological approach to data collection through 13 interviews with 13 different
participants, I narrow my focus on 5 different participants’ experiences of the game series. These
participants express their experiences of the game series as revealing a mother-daughter
relationship and a cautionary tale of science and power.

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The following dissertation of Lisa Josefina Yamasaki is approved.

Eleanor K. Kaufman

Edith S. Omwami

Val D. Rust

Douglas M. Kellner, Committee Chair

University of California, Los Angeles

2016
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Dedication

I dedicate this dissertation to my two nieces, Carisa Joyner and Sofia “Fifi” Joyner, whose
curiosity about different aspects of my work inspires me to continue my scholarship. Carisa, I
admire your eagerness to learn and achieve beyond your expectations—in a lot of ways, I have
done just that in my research and in writing this dissertation. Fifi, I admire your ability to perfect
your game playing techniques and admiration for French culture—also two components in my
work, especially in my dissertation. May you two see that playfulness mediates between the
sensuous and intellect, thus making it an essential part of scholarship.
I also dedicate this dissertation to future scholars interested in similar research, especially those
who find themselves in liminal stances due to being between polarities (i.e. being a mixed race
scholar who uses European concepts or being a female scholar who studies predominantly male
gamer interactions). My dissertation is a testament that one can use this liminality to develop
new ideas and a fresh perspective.
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Table of Contents

Dissertation Abstract………………………………………………….………………………….ii
Dedication………………………………………………………………………………………..iv
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………….……………………….viii
Vita……………………………………………………………….………………………………ix

Chapter I Introduction ..................................................................................................................1
I.I Statement of the Problem: Description of the Portal Series .......................................................... 3
I.II Research Questions……………………………………..…………………………………………8
I.III Use of Portal series in the Classroom and Lesson Plans Based on Portal……………………..9
I.IV. Portal as Technoculture……………………...………………………………………………....12
I.V. Games as Phenomenological Play………………………………………………………………15
I.VI. Games in Educational Context……………………………….………………………………..20

Chapter II Critical Narrative Gaming Pedagogy…………………………………………….27
II.I Play as Concrete Enactment of Abstract Ideals in Freire, Schiller, and Marcuse…………....30
II. II. Critical Media Literacy and Cultural Studies…………………………………………….….38
II. III Narrative Structure…………………………………………………………………………….49
II. IV Narratives in Video Games…………………………………………………………………….58
Chapter III Methods...…………………………………………………………………….……69
III.I Textual Analysis Portion of the Dissertation…………………………………………………..69
Use of Psychoanalytic Lens in a Literary Theory Context…………………………………….………71
III.II Phenomenology Approach/Audience Reception……………………………………..………72
Participants…………………………..……….…………………………………………………….......75
Interviews…………………………………….………………………………………………………...77
Interview Questions………….…………..…………………………………………………………….79

Chapter IV Findings: Sublimation of the Death Drive: Affirming Life or
Death………………………………………………………….………………………………....81
IV.I Life and Death Drives……………………………………………………………………………..81
IV.II Theme I: Sublimation as Repetition or Averted Death……………………………………..…84
Sublimation As the Desired Aim……………………………………………………….………...92
IV.III Theme II: Sadist homoerotic relationship between Chell and GLaDOS……………..……101
Sublimation Part of the Sadist Model? Comparison to Antigone……………………………………117
IV.IV How the Theme Envelops the Plot and Character Development…………………………..124
Chapter V Findings: Gender and class critique through Space Exploration………...…...132
V.I. Theme III Space Navigation Engenders Gender………………………………………...........134
Rattman’s Gaze: Chell as Life, GLaDOS as Death……………………………………………...…..135
Portal’s Fusion of Past, Present, and Future, and Deleuze’s Syntheses of Time………………..…..148
Successful 1950s Era……………………………………………………………………….…..……153
Bankruptcy Era 1970s……………………………………………………………………….………158
Technoculture Era……………………………………………………………………..…………….166
V.II. How the Theme Envelops the Plot, Character Development, and Setting…….……………170
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Chapter VI Findings: Arising Themes in the Portal Narrative for Other Players…..........178
VI.I. Organizing and Interpreting the Data…………...……………………………..…………….178
Summary of interviews………………………………………………………………………….......179
Chart on Gender, Race, and Class…………………………………………………...………………181
Chart of Themes Found……………………………………………..……………………………….183
Chart of Literary Themes for Portal 1 and Portal 2………………………………………………….185
Mother-Daughter Theme…………………………………….……………………………………….187
Connections to Literature and Metaphors……………………………………………………………191
Deeper Observations of Five Selected Participants………………………………….………………196
Ellen’s Interpretation…………………………………………………………………………………198
Simba’s Interpretation………………………………………………………………………………..203
Nicki’s Interpretation…………………...……………………………………………………………208
Rucksbin’s Interpretation……………………………...……………………………………………..213
Gentry’s Interpretation……………………………….………………………………………………218
VI.II. Implications of Different Experiences of the Portal Narrative…………...…………………222
Chapter VII Conclusion: Implications of Critical Narrative Gaming
Pedagogy…………………………………………….…………………………………..……..227

References………………………..…………………………………………………………….237
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my family for supporting my academic endeavors, especially my mom,
Elena Yamasaki, for instilling in me intellectual curiosity and motivation to extend beyond my
own expectations. I also thank my dad, Jose Yamasaki, for reminding me that confidence goes a
long way to proving to others that I deserve to speak my perspective, even if the person who
needs the most proof is myself.

I would also like to thank my committee members—Doug, Eleanor, Edith, and Val—and
mentor, Steve Mamber, for being instrumental in my progress in my dissertation and for
patiently guiding me through my hardheaded ideas. I know I am stubborn, so you have all been
incredibly patient! I am eternally grateful for your kindness and expertise in your respective
areas—I would be nowhere without your devotion to giving me the tools to grow intellectually
and express my ideas. Thank you for giving me a chance in your classrooms. I am very blessed
to have you as my committee members and mentors. Doug, I still remember initially reading
your book, Media Culture, and thinking that it would have been a long shot to be your student—
it is an honor that you selected me to be your student. Eleanor, thank you for inviting me to your
classroom and the Deleuze reading groups—I marvel at your abilities to make the thinkers in the
French tradition so accessible to your students. Edith and Val, thank you for your endless
patience in discussing my methods. Your insight really helped me consider different ways to
improve my interviews and ways of getting participants. Your attention to detail helped me
strengthen formal issues in my writing, an area of weakness for me. Thank you for reminding
me that perfecting such details makes a huge impact on how others perceive my writing. Steve,
thank you for your endless support on drafts of this dissertation as well as my manuscripts and
conference material on the Portal series and LA Noire.

Also, my early mentors—Carlos, Chogollah, and Lois—who supported me during my years at
Calstate LA, were significant to my awakening as a critical thinker.

The scholars at the Southwest Popular Culture Conference, such as Marc Ouellette, Kevin
Moberly, Ken McAllister, Judd Ruggill, Jennifer DeWinter, Carly A. Kocurek, and Steve
Conway, have not only offered wonderful advice but also encouraged me to continue my
research. I am thankful for your contribution and suggestions to my work.

I also would like to thank my friends for giving me emotional support, especially Jeff whose
endless advice and patience in listening to the different conference papers which informed some
of the most important sections of my findings chapters. I would like to also thank Erin, Shari,
Sonya, Ashley R., and Daryoush for their help in calming the mind as I conducted research,
collected the data, and wrote the dissertation, proving that the extension of mind and body are
equally important and crucial for an impactful academic pursuit.

Lastly, I am also indebted to the participants, who kindly gave me their time and their
perspectives. They helped complete the pedagogical feature in this model.
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