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[email protected] Finding Hope Within Hopelessness: An Exploration of Critical Dystopia and its Use in Modern Video Games by David Boyd Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted for the degree of MA by Research 2018 Abstract Since the term ‘critical dystopia’ was first conceptualised and explored by academics in utopianism studies, including Tom Moylan and Rafaella Baccolini, there has been little research undertaken to exemplify how the form has been utilised in modern screen culture; mostly involving studies based on analysis of literature and cinematic texts rather than all facets of visual art and media. This dissertation aims to not only showcase the theoretical framework surrounding critical dystopia in comparison to its classical form, but to provide insight in to how its use in modern video gaming has proliferated whilst inheriting narrative and aesthetical traits traditionally associated with its literary and cinematic counterparts.