Rhyming Rudely: From Medieval Flyting to Invective Poetry in Video Games

This article examines how games continue and represent the historical rituals of invective poetry exchanges. The article juxtaposes the analog, multiplayer card game Cards Against Humanity , known for its transgressive, profanity-based humor, with two single-player video games that present the invective poetry competition as (more or less) historically accurate activity. The former is argued to be a continuation of the same tradition that encompasses various historical practices such as Germanic flyting or African sounding, while the latter is an attempt at representation, without inviting the players to participate in the same practices. The difference between the card game, which makes a freer use of profanities, and the video game representation, which is devoid of it, are used to discuss to investigate the importance of the rituals involving invective poetry in the contemporary culture, as well as theorize about the differences seen in the analog and video games.