Page - 216 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/01

216 | Call for Papers www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/1, 216–218 JRFM 2023, 9/1 CALL FOR PAPERS Paradise Lost Presentations of Nostalgic Longing in Digital Games “Ah, why should all mankind For one man’s fault, be condemned, If guiltless?” John Milton: Paradise Lost Paradise Lost is not only the title of John Milton’s famous epic poem (1667), but also a philosophical-theological notion linked to and emerging from the ‘Fall from Eden’ in Genesis. It expresses – or imagines – the human experience of a definite rupture in history, the inextinguishable urge to return to the period before the rupture and – unable to do so – thus constructs an idealized version of this past to long for. Throughout history, this longing has been expressed in artwork, architecture, literary works and is, perhaps, best observed in the Romantic era with its preference for the past, the future, and the contempo- rary exotic. Today, the notion of ‘Paradise Lost’ has far from disappeared but finds postmodern manifestations in the revival of (secular) nationalism and (religious) fundamentalism. In addition to literature and art, the 20th and 21st centuries have seen a new arena for narratives and iconographies of ‘Paradise Lost’ emerge: digital games. When applied to the field of digital game studies, the notion of ‘Paradise Lost’ can be traced in three different ways: • Present. In the past decade, the game industry has been witnessing a surge in retro-gaming as a kind of narratological, ludological, visual, and tech- nological longing for the early age of gaming. For example, some modern games have (re-)introduced the concept of perma-death (Wasteland 2, Ha- des, Xcom, Diablo series) and retro-graphics has become a deliberate de- sign approach in contemporary games (Cuphead, Celeste, Undertale). The