One of the students whose work was published in our 8th edition of FIELDS was Cerys Elizabeth Eckersley from the school of Music, Humanities and Media.

Cerys researched how The Witcher 3’s soundtrack constructs identity, focusing in particular on its use of neo-medievalist signifiers and its contrasting representations of masculinity and femininity.

We asked Cerys to tell us a bit more about the research below and you can read the full article here:

“The open-world, role-playing video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt received significant praise upon its release in 2015. Set in a detailed fantasy world modelled on Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels, the game’s soundtrack is crucial to its success, helping to immerse the player within the storyline through effective worldbuilding techniques.

This paper explores The Witcher 3’s soundtrack’s integral role in developing constructions of gender and identity throughout the game; demonstrating that musical semiotics and stereotypes are significant to aspects of both narrative and characterisation within the universe of The Witcher 3.  I focus particularly on the contrasting musical representations of masculinity and femininity in the game’s heroes and heroines, as well as on the folkloristic concept of neo-medievalism which is used to communicate a sense of time and place for the game’s narrative. These combined elements create an intricate and immersive game environment, thus contributing to an exceptional game experience for the player.”