Topic
Escapism
About: Escapism is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 396 publications have been published within this topic receiving 6898 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
Book•
1 Nov 2005
TL;DR: Castronova's "Synthetic Worlds" as discussed by the authors explores the long-term social consequences of online games, exploring its implications for business and culture alike, and concludes that if players can inhabit worlds that are more alluring and gratifying than reality, then how can the real world ever compete?
Abstract: From "EverQuest" to "World of Warcraft," online games have evolved from the exclusive domain of computer geeks into an extraordinarily lucrative staple of the entertainment industry. People of all ages and from all walks of life now spend thousands of hours-and dollars-partaking in this popular new brand of escapism. But the line between fantasy and reality is starting to blur. Players have created virtual societies with governments and economies of their own whose currencies now trade against the dollar on eBay at rates higher than the yen. And the players who inhabit these synthetic worlds are starting to spend more time online than at their day jobs. In "Synthetic Worlds," Edward Castronova offers the first comprehensive look at the online game industry, exploring its implications for business and culture alike. He starts with the players, giving us a revealing look into the everyday lives of the gamers-outlining what they do in their synthetic worlds and why. He then describes the economies inside these worlds to show how they might dramatically affect real world financial systems, from potential disruptions of markets to new business horizons. Ultimately, he explores the long-term social consequences of online games: If players can inhabit worlds that are more alluring and gratifying than reality, then how can the real world ever compete? Will a day ever come when we spend more time in these synthetic worlds than in our own? Or even more startling, will a day ever come when such questions no longer sound alarmist but instead seem obsolete? With more than ten million active players worldwide-and with Microsoft and Sony pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into video game development-online games have become too big to ignore. "Synthetic Worlds" spearheads our efforts to come to terms with this virtual reality and its concrete effects. "Illuminating. . . . Castronova's analysis of the economics of fun is intriguing. Virtual-world economies are designed to make the resulting game interesting and enjoyable for their inhabitants. Many games follow a rags-to-riches storyline, for example. But how can all the players end up in the top 10%? Simple: the upwardly mobile human players need only be a subset of the world's population. An underclass of computer-controlled 'bot' citizens, meanwhile, stays poor forever. Mr. Castronova explains all this with clarity, wit, and a merciful lack of academic jargon."-"The Economist" " " ""Synthetic Worlds" is a surprisingly profound book about the social, political, and economic issues arising from the emergence of vast multiplayer games on the Internet. What Castronova has realized is that these games, where players contribute considerable labor in exchange for things they value, are not merely like real economies, they "are" real economies, displaying inflation, fraud, Chinese sweatshops, and some surprising in-game innovations."-Tim Harford, "Chronicle of Higher Education "
1,085 citations
Book•
1 Jan 1981
TL;DR: The authors argue against vague interpretations of fantasy as mere escapism and seek to define it as a distinct kind of narrative, emphasizing the importance of the writings of Freud and subsequent theorists when analysing recurrent themes, such as doubling or multiplying selves, mirror images, metamorphosis and bodily disintegration.
Abstract: This study argues against vague interpretations of fantasy as mere escapism and seeks to define it as a distinct kind of narrative. A general theoretical section introduces recent work on fantasy, notably Tzventan Todorov's The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre (1973). Dr Jackson, however, extends Todorov's ideas to include aspects of psychoanalytical theory. Seeing fantasy as primarily an expression of unconscious drives, she stresses the importance of the writings of Freud and subsequent theorists when analysing recurrent themes, such as doubling or multiplying selves, mirror images, metamorphosis and bodily disintegration.^l Gothic fiction, classic Victorian fantasies, the 'fantastic realism' of Dickens and Dostoevsky, tales by Mary Shelley, James Hogg, E.T.A. Hoffmann, George Eliot, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, R.L. Stevenson, Franz Kafka, Mervyn Peake and Thomas Pynchon are among the texts covered. Through a reading of thse frequently disquieting works, Dr Jackson moves towards a definition of fantasy expressing cultural unease. These issues are discussed in relation to a wide range of fantasies with varying images of desire and disenchantment.
829 citations
Book•
26 Jul 2021
TL;DR: The authors explored the origins of turn-of-the-century American antimodernism and argued that their anti-heroic impulse was not simple escapism, but reveals some enduring and recurring tensions in American culture.
Abstract: T. J. Jackson Lears draws on a wealth of primary sources -- sermons, diaries, letters -- as well as novels, poems, and essays to explore the origins of turn-of-the-century American antimodernism. He examines the retreat to the exotic, the pursuit of intense physical or spiritual experiences, and the search for cultural self-sufficiency through the Arts and Crafts movement. Lears argues that their antimodern impulse, more pervasive than historians have supposed, was not "simple escapism," but reveals some enduring and recurring tensions in American culture.
640 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors made use of Pine and Gilmore's widely known model and empirically examined the applicability of their concept of an "experience economy" and its four dimensions (education, escapism, esthetics, and entertainment).
Abstract: The growing attention placed on experiences can be regarded as a mega-trend, and has given currency to the proposition that experiences function as a personal source of information for the stories people tell about their lives and are important for their self-perception. This view implies the significance of experiences of individual satisfaction with a given product or visit. To assess this assumption, we have made use of Pine and Gilmore's widely known model, and in so doing have empirically examined the applicability of their concept of an “experience economy” and its four dimensions (education, escapism, esthetics, and entertainment). The necessary data were collected from two tourism contexts, the Ice Music Festival and the Maihaugen Museum. The results indicate that Pine and Gilmore's model can further our understanding of the experience market. However, the findings show that different experiential dimensions influence the visitors' overall satisfaction in different contexts. For instance, while th...
416 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors tried to analyze the experience expectations of museum visitors using content analysis of diaries written by museum visitors, and a questionnaire of experience expectations was developed, which included easiness and fun, cultural entertainment, personal identification, historical reminiscences, and escapism.
299 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 |
| 2025 | 51 |
| 2024 | 68 |
| 2023 | 99 |
| 2022 | 158 |
| 2021 | 40 |