Concepts, proceduralities, and learning in the game Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Rise and Fall

Abstract

The article analyses aspects related to historical concepts, production of meaning through ‘mechanics’, appropriation by the players, and representations about the history of Brazil contained in the electronic game Sid Meier's Civilization VI: rise and fall. The research was based, firstly, on the list of historical concepts related to situations of war, considering their articulation in meaning production by rules or procedures (‘proceduralities’), considering discussions about the ‘history of concepts’ and historical learning. In addition, we have investigated some virtual spaces that players use as a space of socialization, producing questionnaires regarding significant aspects of our research. Finally, we have analysed the representations about the history of Brazil contained in the game considering the historiography on the history of Brazil. From this, it was possible to understand how the idea of war in the game is linked to a conception of historical progress marked by an ideology produced by the nineteenth-century European bourgeoisie, and today deeply criticized by the latest developments in the theory of history. We have also been able to demonstrate to what extent these historical conceptions are related to the production of a reductionist image of Brazilian history. Finally, it was possible to notice some concrete trends of historical learning outside the school space from the interviews that we have conducted.