This book reflects on time, space and culture in the Game of Thrones universe. It analyses both the novels and the TV series from a multidisciplinary perspective ultimately aimed at highlighting the complexity, eclecticism and diversity that characterises Martin’s world. The book is divided into three thematic sections. The first section focuses on space―both the urban and natural environment―and the interaction between human beings and their surroundings. The second section follows different yet complementary approaches to Game of Thrones from an aesthetic and cultural perspective. The final section addresses the linguistic and translation implications of the Game of Thrones universe, as well as its didactic uses. This book is paired with a second volume that focuses on the characters that populate Martin’s universe, as well as on one of the ways in which they often interact―violence and warfare―from the same multidisciplinary perspective.
Author(s): Alfonso Álvarez-Ossorio, Fernando Lozano, Rosario Moreno Soldevila, Cristina Rosillo-Lopez
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 373
City: Cham
About this Book
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Reflections on Time, Space and Culture in Game of Thrones
Acknowledgements and a Bit of History
Bibliography
Part I: “Winter is Coming”: Landscape, Climate Change and Natural History in Game of Thrones
Chapter 2: Ludus Thronis: De novem orbis miraculis—The Wonders of the Ancient World in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire
1 Introduction
2 The Phenomenon of the Lists of Wonders and its Connection with Game of Thrones
3 Lomas Longstrider’s Wonders Made by Man
The Wall
The Titan of Braavos
The Long Bridge of Volantis
The Walls of Qarth
The Palace with a Thousand Rooms, in Sarnath of the Tall Towers
The Valyrian Roads
The Three Bells of Norvos
About the Other Possible Wonders in Longstrider’s List
4 The Presence of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in Game of Thrones
5 Conclusions
Bibliography
Chapter 3: “There had been a Great Strength in those Stones”: Materiality and Archaeological Perspectives of Westerosi Fortifications
1 “What do you think a knight is for, girl?”
2 A Seat for Every House
3 “Rearing up against the sky”: Castles and Space
4 “This seems an old place”: Fortresses and Time
5 “Lands, castle, some office?”
Bibliography
Chapter 4: From Python to Viserion: Dragon’s Natural History
1 Hic sunt dracones
2 It Was a Place of Dragons
3 Wunderkammer
4 Quid nisi monstra legis?
5 Drakarys
6 Under the Sign of Melusine: The Monster Against the Audience
Bibliography
Chapter 5: A Song of Ice and Fire as a Narrative of Environmental Crisis and Climate Change
1 Introduction
2 “Winter is coming”: A Game of Natural Forces
3 Preceding Ecological Cataclysms
4 The Evolution of Human-Nature Relationship: Climate Change Scepticism and Denial
5 A Dream of Spring?
Bibliography
Part II: “You Win or You Die”: Aesthetic and Cultural Approaches to Game of Thrones
Chapter 6: Game of Thrones and the Sublime
1 Sublime Ecologies
2 The Intertextual Sublime
3 The Heroic Sublime
Bibliography
Chapter 7: “When You Play the Game of Thrones, You Win or You Die”: Game of Thrones between Mainstream Culture and Counterculture
1 Introduction
2 The Countercultural Background of Game of Thrones
George R. R. Martin
HBO
3 Three Countercultural Elements
Ethical Horizon and Codes of Behaviour
The Technique of “Point of View”
Marginal Heroes
4 The Success of a Fantasy Saga
Factors of Success
The Audience of Game of Thrones
Bibliography
Chapter 8: The Symbology of Popular Culture in Game of Thrones: Carnivalization and Tyrion’s Wedding Party
1 Introduction
2 The Popular Bases: Beyond the Vulgar
3 The Wedding Party: A Carnivalesque Moment
4 Concluding: “It’s not easy being drunk all the time (…)”, as Said by the Wise Tyrion
Bibliography
Part III: “One Voice May Speak you False, but in Many there is Always Truth to be Found”: Linguistic and Temporal Bridges
Chapter 9: A Reception Study of the Game of Thrones Audiovisual Translations into Spanish: Translation Problems vs. Translation Errors
1 Understanding Audiences from a Translator’s Point of View
2 Multimodal Adaptations of G. R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and its Translations: Game of Thrones as a Game Changer in the Media Panorama
3 Translating Serialised, Adapted Fictional Content for Audiovisual Translation: A Major Challenge for Translators
4 Reception Studies in Audiovisual Translation
Reception Theories within Translation Studies
5 Translation Problems vs. Translation Errors
The “Hodor” Case: A Paradigmatic Example of a Translation Problem
The “Sicansíos” Case as an Example of a Paradigmatic Translation Error
6 Reception Study on the “Hodor” Translation Problem: Design and Administration
Analysis of Results
Reactions and Perceptions of the Spanish Dubbed Version of the “Hodor” Scene
7 Conclusions and Further Research Prospects
Bibliography
Chapter 10: Study of the Translation of the Fictional World of Game of Thrones
1 Introduction
2 Fictional Worlds, Translation and Game of Thrones
3 Translation Analysis of the Fictional World of Game of Thrones
Fictional Lineage
Fictional Religion
Fictional Locations
4 Fictional Technology
5 Conclusions
Bibliography
Chapter 11: The Portrayal of Interpreters in Audiovisual Texts, Illustrated by the Character of Missandei in the TV Series Game of Thrones
1 Introduction
2 Interpreters in Audiovisual Texts
3 Methodology
4 Analysing Parameters and Evaluation Scheme
5 Analysis
Thrones S3: Ep.1, “Valar Dohaeris”
Thrones S3: Ep.3, “Walk of Punishment”
Thrones S3: Ep.4, “And Now his Watch is Ended”
Thrones S3: Ep.10, “Mhysa”
Thrones S4: Ep.3, “Breaker of Chains”
Thrones S4: Ep.6, “The Laws of Gods and Men”
Game of Thrones S4: Ep.10, “The Children”
6 Discussion of Results
7 Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 12: Westeros Versus the West: A Ludic Bridge for Teaching History
1 Introduction
Transmedia Universes and their Impact: Why Are these Transmedia Realities so Important and Pervasive?
2 The Use of Transmedia Realities in Teaching through Gamification: A Problem, a Solution
The Teaching Problem
The Solution: Gamification as an Active Methodology
3 Analysis of A Song of Ice and Fire
4 Proposal
Elements of Gamification, Design and Application by Section
Dynamic Elements: Narrative and Progression
Gamification Mechanics
Components
Activities and Sequencing
Gamification Session 1 (2h of practical training)
“Design your house”
“Avatars”
Gamification Sessions 2, 3 and 4: Project System
List of Projects
Project 1: “The house of God”
Project 2: The Chronicles—Historiography and Political History
Project 3: Traveling Between Guilds—Society and Economy
5 Conclusions and Future Approaches
Bibliography
Index
