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Fleshthetics of the Postcolonial Body: Examining Contested Identities in the Works of Studio Oleomingus
Key insights
6 takeaways- 01Studio Oleomingus games, including 'A Museum of Dubious Splendors' (2018), 'In the Pause Between the Ringing' (2019), 'The Indifferent Wonder of an Edible Place' (2020), 'The Uncertain Repetitions of Truth' (2020), and 'Folds of a Separation' (2022), serve as the primary case studies for analyzing the postcolonial body.See it on page 3
- 02The authors introduce 'Fleshthetics' as a theoretical framework to move beyond the rigid, monolithic academic definitions of the 'postcolonial body' by focusing on the 'Flesh' as a plastic, non-linear, and fragmented assemblage of identities.See it on page 10
- 03The 'Flesh' is defined as an absent-present entity capable of deformation and reformation, contrasting with the traditional 'Body,' which is often constrained by material, chrononormative, and colonial definitions of history.See it on page 10
- 04State-Nation machinery is depicted as using the 'politics of erasure' to manipulate memory and historical narratives, forcing citizens into a singular, linear, and state-sanctioned version of the past.See it on page 20
- 05The games utilize ludic mechanics, such as the forced clockwise rotation of a watch in 'The Uncertain Repetitions of Truth,' to critique the colonial imposition of linear, teleological time on postcolonial subjects.See it on page 18
- 06The research argues that by embracing fragmented, non-linear, and mythic storytelling, video games can deconstruct colonial epistemologies and provide a more expansive, pluralistic understanding of history.See it on page 17
Summary
Fleshthetics of the Postcolonial Body: Examining Contested Identities in the Works Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India Through a holistic analysis of the games by Studio Oleomingus, this paper will explore the concept of "Fleshthetics," examining how the postcolonial body/Flesh is a palimpsest and collage of both lived experience(s) and intergenerational phantom histories.
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