The Gerudo Problem: The Ideology of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

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Title: The Gerudo Problem: The Ideology of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Author: Byron J Kimball
Faculty Sponsor: Emily Plec, Department of Communication Studies
Abstract: This paper largely considers the ideological constructs of the 1998 Nintendo video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, wherein the various ideologies and beliefs, assumptions, and values expressed and espoused by the game through dialogue, gameplay, and setting/character construction, are discovered and analyzed by identifying presented and suggested elements. Through an ideological critique, I argue that through the game’s portrayal of a Western European-stylized colonist power as a benign imperial influence and of other cultures as impotent and/or evil others, Western colonialism is idealized as an acceptable norm. The use of racial stereotyping through fantasy race-based societies serves to designate acceptable and unacceptable others especially in regards to Eastern/Orient-stereotyped cultures.
Description: The author thanks his faculty sponsor, Emily Plec, for this opportunity and for their feedback and guidance.
Subject: Critical and Cultural Studies; zelda; ocarina of time; the legend of zelda; ideological criticism; hegemony; race-based society; orientalism; otherness
Rights: Western Oregon University Library has determined, as of 06/01/2023, this item is in copyright, which is held by the author. Users may use the item in accordance with copyright limitations and exceptions, including fair use. For other uses, please ask permission from the author.; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Type: Text
volume: 7
Date Published: 11/26/2018
Note: Emily Plec, Department of Communication Studies
Alternative Title: The Gerudo Problem
Identifier: pure/vol7/iss1/5
Language: eng