Gaming and the Arts of Storytelling

The title of this collection makes use of some ambiguous terms: 'gaming' rather than 'videogames'; the plural ‘arts' rather than the singular 'art'. Similarly, the concept of 'storytelling' has an ambiguous relation to the term 'narrative', which is far more commonly deployed in scholarly discussions of games. These ambiguities were designed to encourage interdisciplinary approaches which may be orthogonal to—while mindful of—the existing discourses. The issue's contributors have responded to this broad remit. Both the original symposium held at Abertay University in May 2018 and this Special Issue include work from scholars in computer science, film studies, comics studies, cultural studies, and game studies. The idea of 'storytelling' places emphasis on the process and performance and, in their artful weaving together of domains, the articles comprising this Special Issue represent important responses to far-reaching transformations in contemporary storytelling practices.