tesss

Megan Pan ’22 is a comparative literature concentrator from Short Hills, New Jersey, with certificates in theater, creative writing, and Asian American studies. On campus, she acts in various department and student theater productions, helps run the East West Theater company, and sings with the Princeton University Glee Club. She has been described by friends as the human equivalent of an Azumarill. She wrote this paper as a sophomore.

Tess Solomon ’21 is an English concentrator from New York City. She is pursuing certificates in German and cognitive science. She is editor-in-chief of the Nassau Weekly as well as a Writing Center Fellow. She wrote this as a junior.

Spring 2020, Thesis

The Cute as Uncanny: How Doki Doki Literature Club! Subverts the Dating Sim Genre

BY tesss

In a Tortoiseshell: In her final paper for a class called “’Too Cute!’: Race, Style, and Asiamania,” Megan Pan analyzes a dating simulator video game, Doki Doki Literature Club! The game, accessible by smartphone app, takes a strange and unexpected turn as it is played. The essay uses this twist as its motivation to examine its theoretical and cultural implications. Its claim, that “by very nature of its cute demeanor,” the game “manages to subvert the expectations of its supposed genre and ultimately reveal its true colors as a brilliantly executed metafictional psychological horror” in a strong example of the lexicon term thesis. Continue reading →