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THE VOICE NOT FROM RIVIA: SILENCE, ECOFEMINISM, AND THEIR LIMITS IN THE WITCHER SERIES

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Date Issued:
2022
Abstract/Description:
The Witcher book series by Andrzej Sapkowski and the corresponding The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game by CD Projekt RED intersectionally relate the feminine to the natural in their joint secondary world of the Continent, and in doing so rely on the “key feminine,” a term to describe a female character who embodies the feminine ideals of the secondary world while also saving it from environmental disaster, yet not being representative of it, deconstructing the goddess and witch dichotomy. Geralt’s predispositions as a witcher places him in conflict with nature, but his moral code and decisive silence allow for a space in which, though the two occur independently and jointly, the voice of the feminine and the voice of the nonhuman world can be heard on their own terms, instead of through the objective filtering of the hero. Yet, in this space of voices and silence, the natural world remains opposed to the protagonists, which CD Projekt RED elevates to monstrifying the natural in opposition to the player, giving voices to some zoomorphic and anthropomorphic monsters, but leaving other nonhuman ecomorphic creatures without voice, encouraging anthropocentric dominance over the environment.
Title: THE VOICE NOT FROM RIVIA: SILENCE, ECOFEMINISM, AND THEIR LIMITS IN THE WITCHER SERIES.
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Name(s): King, Bryce Lyne, author
Miller, Timothy, Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Department of English
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2022
Date Issued: 2022
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 72 p.
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: The Witcher book series by Andrzej Sapkowski and the corresponding The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game by CD Projekt RED intersectionally relate the feminine to the natural in their joint secondary world of the Continent, and in doing so rely on the “key feminine,” a term to describe a female character who embodies the feminine ideals of the secondary world while also saving it from environmental disaster, yet not being representative of it, deconstructing the goddess and witch dichotomy. Geralt’s predispositions as a witcher places him in conflict with nature, but his moral code and decisive silence allow for a space in which, though the two occur independently and jointly, the voice of the feminine and the voice of the nonhuman world can be heard on their own terms, instead of through the objective filtering of the hero. Yet, in this space of voices and silence, the natural world remains opposed to the protagonists, which CD Projekt RED elevates to monstrifying the natural in opposition to the player, giving voices to some zoomorphic and anthropomorphic monsters, but leaving other nonhuman ecomorphic creatures without voice, encouraging anthropocentric dominance over the environment.
Identifier: FA00013928 (IID)
Degree granted: Thesis (MA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2022.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Subject(s): Sapkowski, Andrzej. Wiedźmin. English (Series)
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013928
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
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Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.