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Abstract
In this thesis, I propose that The Last of Us franchise functions as an exemplar on how survival horror video games are uniquely situated as a genre and medium to make precise statements about empathy, complicity, and trauma. However, upon applying a ludonarrative trauma analysis to the series, the statement it makes is one of exclusion. Ludonarrative trauma analyses work across disciplines to draw methodology from two disparate fields. From literary trauma theory, I utilize understandings from trauma theory rooted in psychoanalysis, post-structuralism, and deconstruction, to parse out how trauma is represented in The Last of Us. From video games studies, I apply narratology and ludology in tandem to uncover not only what the game represents in a traditional literary sense, but also how it engages its players through gameplay. Understanding how The Last of Us uses both its ludic and narrative aspects together to represent trauma allows for a more nuanced interpretation of how the series functions. Namely, this cross-disciplinary framework shows how the series calls upon its players to alternately empathize with characters and immerse themselves in the game play, creating not only empathy with representational trauma survivors, but also complicity with trauma’s workings. While The Last of Us does effectively represent trauma in innovative and striking ways, this ludonarrative trauma analysis reveals how the series simultaneously upholds hegemonic structures, despite seeming to subvert them with its female playable characters in The Last of Us Part II. As a result, this thesis should demonstrate to video games studies scholars the merit and applications of literary trauma theory to the field and further encourage the construction of more truly subversive survival horror games.