Mythopoeic Narrative in the Legend of Zelda

by Anthony Cirilla (editor), Vincent Rone (Editor)

The Legend of Zelda series is one of the most popular and recognizable examples in videogames of what Tolkien referred to as mythopoeia, or myth-making. In his essay On Fairy Stories and a short poem entitled Mythopoeia, Tolkien makes the case that the fairy tale aesthetic is simply a more intimate version of the same principle underlying the great the human desire to make meaning out of the world. By using mythopoeia as a touchstone concept, the essays in this volume explore how The Legend of Zelda series turns the avatar, through which the player interacts with the in-game world, into a player-character symbiote wherein the individual both enacts and observes the process of integrating worldbuilding with storytelling. Twelve essays explore Zelda's mythmaking from the standpoints of literary criticism, videogame theory, musicology, ecocriticism, pedagogy, and more.

242 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 6, 2020

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible collection of academic works that detail how Zelda - and video games as a whole - deserve a place in academia and academic study of literature. Thought-provoking, exploratory, and self-aware, the contributors to this work touch on a variety of subjects that don't just make loose connections to the iconic series, but intrinsically weave them into the fabric of the franchise and its games. Cirilla and his colleagues provide invigorating discourse in this work. Would recommend to any fan of Zelda, video games, and ludology.