Video: Renata Keller and the Snarky World of Tropico
There are many ways to tell the story of a foreign land. Some of them are as old as civilization; others younger than a human lifetime. One of the newest methods is the video game.
On July 24, Renata Keller, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was interviewed by History Respawned, a video blog dedicated to analyzing historical perspectives in video games with renowned academics. The game in question? Tropico 5, the latest installment in the snarky resource management franchise taking place on a fictionalized Caribbean people’s republic.
In the wide-ranging conversation, Keller brings her knowledge of Cuban history to bear on the popular game, showing how it tracks and sometimes misses opportunities for historical accuracy.
“One of the main historical inaccuracies I noticed was that, during the colonial period, the game did not reference the fact that much of the labor was slavery,” Keller said. “You can pick the crops in your fields, but then you wonder, okay, who’s working?”
Later in the conversation, Keller tells host John Harney about Cuba’s unique position to decide its fate in the aftermath of World War II.
“Cuba was in such an interesting position because generally, only the large or distant nations from the U. S. in World War II could afford to choose allies or keep out of the war, such as Mexico and Argentina,” Keller said. “But in small countries like Cuba, local elites stayed in power through their ties with the U. S. military. In Cuba, communism arrived with European immigrant populations.”
Keller said she had never played the game, and was provided gameplay samples to ground her conversation.
“I’d never heard of it before doing the interview,” Keller said. “But now my husband totally wants to buy it.”
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Renata Keller’s research and teaching interests focus on Latin American history, particularly the connections between foreign and domestic politics, the dynamics of the Cold War, and U.S. relations with Latin America. She has special expertise in Mexican, Cuban, Chilean, and Argentine history. Learn more about her here.