Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Maskinkroppens gräns : Våld, immunitet och medieakologiska aggregationer i The Last of Us

Jansson, Oscar LU (2021) In Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap 51(1-2). p.153-171
Abstract
This article examines the portrayal of bodily boundaries in the videogame series The Last of Us. Drawing on theories of media ecology and posthumanism (most notably Deer’s notion of radical animism, Haraway’s theories of the cyborg, and Fuller’s account of media assemblages), three aspects of this portrayal are described: first, the game’s narrativization of bodily violence through an amalgamation of the player’s sensory systems with media technologies; second, the game’s depiction of monstrous corporeality; and third, its representation of immune systems through the mirrored relationship between external tools and endogenous bodily functions. Connecting these three aspects, it is argued that The Last of Us portrays bodily boundaries as... (More)
This article examines the portrayal of bodily boundaries in the videogame series The Last of Us. Drawing on theories of media ecology and posthumanism (most notably Deer’s notion of radical animism, Haraway’s theories of the cyborg, and Fuller’s account of media assemblages), three aspects of this portrayal are described: first, the game’s narrativization of bodily violence through an amalgamation of the player’s sensory systems with media technologies; second, the game’s depiction of monstrous corporeality; and third, its representation of immune systems through the mirrored relationship between external tools and endogenous bodily functions. Connecting these three aspects, it is argued that The Last of Us portrays bodily boundaries as precarious, and that it presents violence, technology and infectious disease as callingcards for moving beyond anthropocentric views of corporeality; of conceptualizing the human body as machine-like and inevitably more-than-human. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
alternative title
Boundaries of the Machine Body : Violence, Immunity and Media Assemblages in The Last of Us
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
The Last of Us, radikal animism, medieekologi, cyborg, våld, Intermediala kulturstudier, The Last of Us, secular apocalypse, radical animism, media ecology, cyborg, violence, immunity, intermedial narrative
in
Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap
volume
51
issue
1-2
pages
19 pages
publisher
Föreningen för utgivande av Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap
ISSN
1104-0556
DOI
10.54797/tfl.v51i1-2.1747
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
464b164d-cc10-4a3a-a122-494dd4e54d72
alternative location
https://publicera.kb.se/tfl/article/view/1747/1708
date added to LUP
2021-09-24 10:42:50
date last changed
2022-01-31 18:19:20
@article{464b164d-cc10-4a3a-a122-494dd4e54d72,
  abstract     = {{This article examines the portrayal of bodily boundaries in the videogame series The Last of Us. Drawing on theories of media ecology and posthumanism (most notably Deer’s notion of radical animism, Haraway’s theories of the cyborg, and Fuller’s account of media assemblages), three aspects of this portrayal are described: first, the game’s narrativization of bodily violence through an amalgamation of the player’s sensory systems with media technologies; second, the game’s depiction of monstrous corporeality; and third, its representation of immune systems through the mirrored relationship between external tools and endogenous bodily functions. Connecting these three aspects, it is argued that The Last of Us portrays bodily boundaries as precarious, and that it presents violence, technology and infectious disease as callingcards for moving beyond anthropocentric views of corporeality; of conceptualizing the human body as machine-like and inevitably more-than-human.}},
  author       = {{Jansson, Oscar}},
  issn         = {{1104-0556}},
  keywords     = {{The Last of Us; radikal animism; medieekologi; cyborg; våld; Intermediala kulturstudier; The Last of Us; secular apocalypse; radical animism; media ecology; cyborg; violence; immunity; intermedial narrative}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  number       = {{1-2}},
  pages        = {{153--171}},
  publisher    = {{Föreningen för utgivande av Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap}},
  series       = {{Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap}},
  title        = {{Maskinkroppens gräns : Våld, immunitet och medieakologiska aggregationer i The Last of Us}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.54797/tfl.v51i1-2.1747}},
  doi          = {{10.54797/tfl.v51i1-2.1747}},
  volume       = {{51}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}