Date of Award

2009

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

English

First Advisor

Jeffers, Jennifer

Subject Headings

Visual literacy, Narration (Rhetoric), Video games

Abstract

Traditional models used in examining narrative were built from the use of printed texts, the content of which is nothing more and nothing less than what appears on the page. Studying the narrative of video role-playing games such as Final Fantasy X with these models is problematic because of the interactive nature of the story. The element of choice in Final Fantasy X results in a narrative experience that differs with each playing. The game contains many recognizable elements of the myth as outlined by Joseph Campbell, but the model this model is inadequate for examining a narrative of this type. To overcome the hurdles that interactivity creates, as well as the way in which this modern myth re-defines Campbell's model, an adaptation of Deleuze and Guatteri's rhizome theory is used to examine Final Fantasy X. The rhizome provides a framework suitable for re-thinking the quest in the modern myth, as well as dealing with the way in which interactive narrative creates repetition with difference

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