The 'void' as 'heterotopia par excellence' in dishonored: death of the outsider

• Author: Mihai Burlacu
• Position: Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 61-66

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşo v

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 11 (60) No. 2 - 2018

THE ‘VOID’ AS ‘HETEROTOPIA PAR EXCELLENCE’

IN DISHONORED: DEATH OF THE OUTSIDER

Mihai BURLACU1

Abstract: This paper presents an intellectual exercise of approaching a

virtual space as if it were ‘real’. I approach the ‘Void’, one of the spaces

emphasized in the action-adventure stealth video game Dishonored: Death

of the Outsider from the standpoint of Cultural Anthropology. My purpose is

to describe the ‘Void’ and establish whether it can be considered a

‘heterotopia par excellence’, in Foucault’s terms (Foucault, 2008, p. 22). I

argue that the ‘Void’ connects and inverts multiple places and meanings in a

similar manner to the ship from Foucault’s ‘heterotopology’. Thus, it

represents a fictional example of a ‘heterotopia par excellence’.

Key words: heterotopia par excellence, heterotopology, panopticism, the

‘Outsider’, the ‘Void’.

1. Introduction

The last spinoff instalment in the Dishonored series entails an interesting development

of the main narrative line introduced in 2012. The first two games of the series

introduced and expanded upon the fictional world in which gamers have the

opportunity to fight in an intense political turmoil. In my paper, I revisit the ‘Void’ from

the Dishonored series’ universe, as it is represented in the last standalone expansion

pack entitled D ishonored: Death of the Outsider. I proceed to compare it with Michel

Foucault’s concept of ‘heterotopia par excellence’, which was derived from his

‘heterotopology’.

My excursus presents first and foremost an intellectual exercise of approaching a

virtual space as if it were ‘real’. I begin by briefly presenting the synopsis of the

Dishonored series. I conti nue by discussing the dichotomy between the ‘panopticism’ of

the game’s ‘real’ world and the type of emplacement represented by the ‘Void’.

Subsequently, I compare the characteristics of the ‘Void’ with the features attributed by

Foucault to the ship, which is considered by him to be the ‘heterotopia par excellence’

(Foucault, 2008, p. 22).

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider was developed by Arkane Studios and publi shed by

Bethesda Softworks’ in September 2017. I have chosen the series’ last spinoff because

its story examines the Outsider's past and the reason for his existence and intrinsic

1 Transilvania University of Braşov, mihai.burlacu@unitbv.ro