Date of Award

Spring 5-3-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Self-Determined Majors

First Advisor

Paul Benzon

Second Advisor

Andrew Lindner

Abstract

This paper analyzes the cultural processes of grief and death practiced in Fortnite and Elden Ring in relation to the military history of the countries in which these games were produced. This close reading utilizes a methodology of media archaeology, visual studies, and liveness theory to analyze the affordances and regional practices present in these games and argue their design and consumption is haunted by the military histories of the United States and Japan respectively. As a result, Fortnite and Elden Ring are demonstrated to function as local sites of grief and mourning in relation to the opposing relationships with the military present in each game's country of origin.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

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