历史信息如何经过各种不同的文化记忆媒介被转译、被传递，在漫长的岁月中最终形成一群人的历史记忆，并对他们的身份认同造成影响？游戏作为一种文化记忆的媒介，如何成为历史以及历史学研究的一部分？通过英国督伊德教及其文化代表--自然祭司德鲁伊的复兴历程的考辨，本文试图理解上述问题及社会动因。督伊德教的历史原型来自于公元前3世纪到公元2世纪之间，是流行于凯尔特世界的一种仅有口传传统的古宗教，这一宗教在公元2世纪前后因古罗马帝国与基督教的双重夹击而消亡。德鲁伊首先是督伊德教的祭司，在近代时成为这场复兴的代表性要素，在现代成为了信仰形式德鲁伊之道的核心，并且在电子游戏中取得了独立于督伊德教的生命力，成为了一个独立的文化概念。17世纪至19世纪，督伊德教的复兴与英国的现代化进程、浪漫主义运动、民族主义运动、地方主义的发展等等都息息相关，经历了被古物学家误读、被民族主义者伪造典籍的阶段，随后经浪漫主义者之手，在文学、戏剧与舞台艺术的创作中得到广泛的传播，通过旅行家与环保主义者在英国的自然景观中找到了足以支撑信仰的景观基础和在地性基础，从而成为了一种虽不显著，亦无法忽视的文化潮流。主要是在这一阶段,“被发现的传统”变成了“被发明的传统”，而“凯尔特复兴”的概念以及爱尔兰、苏格兰、威尔士等非英格兰民族近年来对于凯尔特文化根源的强调，正是督伊德教能够在近代复兴的大背景。20世纪以来，随着全球范围内新督伊德教组织的建立，督伊德教作为一种具有生态意识的自然信仰形式而得到人们在现实中的操练，变成了一种护卫土地共同体的“地球保卫者”。由于口传及仪式带来的内生的游戏性，新督伊德教无论是在宗教组织、教育体系或是信仰的实践上都具有游戏化的特点。另一方面，德鲁伊作为一种战斗职业在桌面及电子游戏中出现，使得德鲁伊成为了流行文化中独特的一个部分。这一阶段复兴背后的社会动力，是身处工业社会对于自然的追求。游戏成为了一种人们在工业社会追求“自然乌托邦”的新媒介形式：游玩的行为既创造出了“机器中的狩猎采集者”的体验，更使宗教与灵性体验触手可得。“被发明的传统”变成了“被游玩的传统”，而自然祭司德鲁伊也由此而取得了新生。本文提出了将游戏入史时可以采用的两种概念：体验真实与主题真实，并指出游戏在塑造认同方面的重要作用是它历史价值的主要来源。
How would game, being a cultural memory medium, being history and be understood in historical research? How did historical information survive after being transmitted, translated, distorted, and recreated to form the identity of a certain group and affect their sense of belonging? The history of the druid revival may provide an interesting example.As the primary religion of ancient celts, Druidism thrived from 2nd Century B.C.to 2nd century A.D., with its glory being shut down by the double blow of Roman Empire and Christianity. As a religion of oral tradition, with no written records left behind, Druidism should have gone, and yet it still constantly shows its presence through the medieval period, and even inspired a revival movement after the Renaissance. What is more,druid even had their presence in video games as a fighting class that is transfigurative and portray themselves as "guardian of Nature". With the popularity and under the influence of celtic reconstruction paganism, new druidism established itself as a new religion in 2010.How does that happen and why is this religion revived? Through historical analysis, this paper argues that there are two hidden causes. From the 16th Century to the 19th Century, it is the pursuit of the celtic national identity that pushed the antiquarians to collect and misinterpret, the nationalist to distort and forge, the romantics to imagine and create, and therefore resulted in the invention of the druidic tradition.Then, that popularity became the foundation for druidic organizations, and from the 20th Century onwards, the need for a nature utopia in the industrial society made the druids popular again. Nature came in place of the nationality, and not only did natualists became druids, but also druid player in video games are actually experiencing spirituality through the “garden in the machine”. The invented tradition becomes the playable tradition, and therefore druidry regained its cultural vitality through playing.This paper also explores how digital game would perform as history, in the sense that it would firstly serve as a cultural memory form that records history, and secondly as a way to enact and create history.
