Locating the Cultural Transmission in Games: An Analysis of Select Folk games and Digital games

Abstract

Cultural Studies is a distinctive interdisciplinary fieldin academia which investigates the political processes of modern culture as well as its historical roots. In general, cultural studies experts delve at how cultural practises interact with larger systems of power that are linked to or working via sociological phenomenon. It emphasizes on how beliefs, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic class, caste, race, and gender interact with cultural manifestations in general. This eclectic area of study, which developed in the second part of the twentieth century, has spanned time and place, culminating in the development of a diversity of perspectives through which culture may be perceived. One prism that looks at culture as a local development is the regional turn in cultural studies. Regional culture is an amalgamation of regionally distinct activities, customs, rituals, food culture, games, behavioural tendencies and so on. It is a collection of written, oral, and performative traditions of numerous ethno-linguistic groups in various locales and communities that, although extensive intrinsic mobility, may nevertheless be described as having unique geographical contexts or identities. The regional paradigm to culture analyses regional narratives as distinct cultural manifestations. Cultural Studies has radically turned its attention to regionality, prompting a reconsideration of culture as a way of life derived from localised actions, rather than as a globally generated uniform concept. Local voices in games, literature, films, theatre, folklore, oral traditions, and other forms of cultural expression should be elevated to the forefront. Children are always being interestedin games as they belong to the concerned age group. While today's children play more complex games as well as online games, children in the past played more localised or regional basic games that we now refer to as folk games. A significant proportion of most cultures' traditional games or folk games, including Kerala's, has perished over ages. The ‘Game’can be regarded as a multifaceted social and cultural entity. The salient features of folk games are the ways in they are transferred and passed down from generation to generation. There are usually no official instructions based on the strategy of folk games, but children themselves teach other children how to play these games, including the rules and other requirements. These games are transmitted down through generations, with the majority of them being passed down by children. These games are deeply ingrained in local culture as a result of this informal transmission, and they are actually part of that social group's legacy. As a direct result of this learning process, almost all of these games will have many versions, sometimes even inside a single location. This paper entitled Locating the Cultural Transmission in Games: An Analysis of Select Folk games and Digitalgamesexamines selected Kerala folk games from distinguished categories which have receded its significance or are in the merge of extinction. It also analyses the contemporary cultural transmission within the context of folk games in comparison with the globalisation.