Online Role-Playing Games and Young Adult Literature

Drawing on theories of affinity spaces and traditions of online ethnographic research, this study seeks to understand the culture of physical, virtual, and blended spheres that adolescents inhabit. This paper highlights the ways in which youth use online role-playing games as a response to literature, such as The Hunger Games trilogy. Specifically, it considers how Tumblr, a microblogging site, offers a platform for readers to readily become writers and gamers. The analysis focuses on one young woman’s creative writing and role-playing processes over time, and includes a discussion of how games can shape young adults’ engagement with literature in and out of school contexts.