[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-40178-en":3,"doc-seo-40178-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":95},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":22,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},40178,34359740700684,"Finn","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/1f400023980c374ae676?_k=1777273430885731487",8,"Research & Report","Playing Hitler: The Representation of Nazism in Hearts of Iron IV","Hearts of Iron IV is a World War II strategy game featuring a representation of Nazi Germany that has attracted attention from some right-wing extremists online. This thesis examines what the game communicates about Nazism and how much interpretive space it leaves to players. Using textual analysis with a neoformalist approach, the study evaluates formal devices that construct the portrayal. Findings indicate that the game offers a relatively large room for interpretation and makes few overt value judgments, functioning more as a blank slate than a direct pro-Nazi message.","Avdeling for lærerutdanning og naturvitenskap  \nJohannes Aschim  \nMaster thesis  \nPlaying Hitler: The representation of Nazism  \nin Hearts of Iron IV  \nMaster of digital communication and culture  \n2020  \nConsent to lending by University College Library Consent to accessibility in digital archive Brage  \nYES  \nYES  \n☒  \n☒  \nNO ☐  \nNO ☐  \nContents  \nABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................................5  \nACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................6  \n1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................7  \n1.1 RESEARCH QUESTION ...............................................................................................................8  \n1.2 RESEARCH SUBJECT: AN INTRODUCTION TO HEARTS OFIRON IV............................................ 10  \n1.2.1 The focus of Hearts of Iron IV vs the focus of this thesis ............................................ 12  \n1.3 WHY STUDY NAZISM IN VIDEOGAMES?.................................................................................. 13  \n1.3.1 White supremacist terror and the HoI4 community .................................................... 15  \n1.4 THE NATURE OF REPRESENTATION: CECIN’EST PAS UNE NAZI DICTATORSHIP .......................21  \n1.4.1 The Representation of history ..................................................................................... 23  \n1.4.2 A representation of Hitler, the Nazi government, or Germany? .................................25  \n2. METHOD AND THEORY ......................................................................................................30  \n2.1 DELIMITATIONS AND CHOICE OF METHOD ..............................................................................30  \n2.2 THE CASE FOR QUALITATIVE TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ..................................................................34  \n2.3 CHOOSING AN APPROACH.......................................................................................................36  \n2.3.1 Considering ludology and proceduralism ...................................................................36  \n2.3.2 A Third Camp: Neoformalism ..................................................................................... 37  \n2.4 THE APPROACH: GAME NEOFORMALISM ................................................................................40  \n2.4.1 ‘The Game as System’.................................................................................................41  \n2.4.2 ‘Motivations of Game Devices’................................................................................... 43  \n2.5 TERMINOLOGY .......................................................................................................................44  \n2.5.1 Game terms ................................................................................................................. 45  \n2.5.2 Political terms ............................................................................................................. 45  \n3. NEOFORMALIST ANALYSIS OF HEARTS OF IRON IV’S AESTHETICS.................. 47  \n3.1 THE CORE MECHANIC ........................................................................................................... 48  \n3.1.1 Politics and diplomacy ............................................................................................... 50  \n3.1.2 Resource management................................................................................................ 70  \n3.1.3 Interpreting Nazism as found in the core mechanic ................................................... 83  \n3.2 AUDIOVISUAL STYLE ............................................................................................................ 84  \n3.2.1 Dimension and point of perception .............","cbCaimlZaVFoo8LL","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimlZaVFoo8LL","pdf",1421754,10,1,105,"English","en","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Research question\n## Research subject: Hearts of Iron IV\n## Why study Nazism in videogames?\n## The nature of representation\n# Method and theory\n## Delimitations and choice of method\n## Qualitative textual analysis\n## Choosing an approach\n## Terminology\n# Neoformalist analysis of Hearts of Iron IV’s aesthetics\n## The core mechanic\n## Audiovisual style\n# Conclusion\n## Further research","[{\"question\":\"What is the main research focus of the thesis?\",\"answer\":\"The thesis analyzes how Hearts of Iron IV represents Nazi Germany, what that representation communicates about Nazism, and how much interpretive freedom it provides to players.\"},{\"question\":\"What method and theoretical approach does the thesis use?\",\"answer\":\"It employs qualitative textual analysis with a neoformalist approach to examine how the game’s formal devices create its portrayal.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the findings suggest about the game’s value judgments?\",\"answer\":\"The analysis suggests the player’s room for interpretation is quite large, and the game makes very few overt value judgments about Nazi Germany.\"},{\"question\":\"Does the thesis conclude that the game is pro-Nazi?\",\"answer\":\"No. The thesis argues the game does not contain a pro-Nazi message; instead, it functions as a blank slate for interpretation.\"}]",1783305524,265,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":22,"language":24,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":90,"head_meta":92,"extra_data":94,"updated_unix":27},"playing-hitler-the-representation-of-nazism-in-hearts-of-iron-iv","",{"@graph":35,"@context":89},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/playing-hitler-the-representation-of-nazism-in-hearts-of-iron-iv/40178/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-17","2026-07-06",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81,85],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is the main research focus of the thesis?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"The thesis analyzes how Hearts of Iron IV represents Nazi Germany, what that representation communicates about Nazism, and how much interpretive freedom it provides to players.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What method and theoretical approach does the thesis use?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"It employs qualitative textual analysis with a neoformalist approach to examine how the game’s formal devices create its portrayal.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What do the findings suggest about the game’s value judgments?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"The analysis suggests the player’s room for interpretation is quite large, and the game makes very few overt value judgments about Nazi Germany.",{"name":86,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":87},"Does the thesis conclude that the game is pro-Nazi?",{"text":88,"@type":76},"No. The thesis argues the game does not contain a pro-Nazi message; 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