DOI
10.4018/978-1-5225-0477-1.ch011
Abstract
This chapter examines Crystal Dynamics' 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, arguing that the game makes use of intertextual references to the original Core Design Tomb Raider (1996) and popular culture archaeology in an effort to revise the original franchise's exploitative depiction of both Lara Croft and archaeological practise. Framed by a theoretical understanding of Orientalism (Said, 1979) and the constraints of symbolic order (Kristeva, 1986a) and the recognition that video games in general and the Tomb Raider franchise in specific are "games of empire" (Dyer-Witheford & de Peuter, 2009), it becomes clear that the 2013 Tomb Raider ultimately fails to escape the constraints of imperial procedural semiotics.
Document Type
Book Chapter
ISBN
9781522504771
Publication Date
2016
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2016 Information Science Reference. This chapter first appeared in Contemporary Research on Intertextuality in Video Games.
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Recommended Citation
Bezio, Kristin M.S. "Artifacts of Empire: Orientalism and Inner-Texts in Tomb Raider (2013)." In Contemporary Research on Intertextuality in Video Games, edited by Christophe Duret and Christian-Marie Pons, 189-208. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, 2016.