Keynote: "Broken Things, Women and Change: Game of Thrones and Playing with Existential Explosive Plasticity"

Description

From season one, women took over Game of Thrones (HBO, 2011-). I think, primarily, in the adaptation of George R. R. Martin's book series, A Song of Ice and Fire (1996-). However, I leave this to speculation. In the TV series, the women mark the terrain, take the floor, fill the minutes, and generate talks, comments, dreams, and viewers. In this talk I discuss how the women of GOT capture our imaginations through their existential changes. I combine three ideas: First, I use French philosopher Catherine Malabou's concept about neuroplasticity and change; second, I draw on the concept of edgework from sports sociology; and, third, I take from game studies in "rough games" that play can be fun and unpleasant.
"[T]he history of being itself consists perhaps of nothing but a series of accidents," says Malabou (2012: 91). Life is a series of accidents, and with accidents come change and an unanticipated story about ourselves. To play with accidents takes us to the edge of trauma. So, this is where I shall seek our story.

Period	7. Sept 2017
Held at	University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Degree of Recognition	International