American McGee's Alice: The Adaptation of Nonsense to Interactivity

Abstract

Since its release, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland has been adapted numerous times into a variety of different media. Perhaps the most intresting of these adaptations come in the form of video games, as these provide an interactive experience of the world of Wonderland. It is no surprise then, that video games such as American McGee's Alice and Alice Madness Returns have been studied for their remediation and adaptation of Carroll's classic. However, a perspective that seems to be missing in this academic discourse is one which assumes that Alice in Wonderland is part of the literary tradition of nonsense. Based on Wim Tigges' definition of literary nonsense, this paper investigates to what extent the nonsense element present in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is adapted to the video game American McGee's Alice.