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Posthumanism in Outer Wilds
- Author(s):
- Simon Bowie (see profile)
- Date:
- 2021
- Subject(s):
- Culture--Study and teaching, Transhumanism, Video games
- Item Type:
- Article
- Tag(s):
- environmental issues, Outer Wilds, Rosi Braidotti, subjectivities, Posthumanism, Cultural studies
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/d4rs-rx03
- Abstract:
- This article performs a posthumanist reading of Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital, 2019) focusing on how the game represents posthuman subjectivity. Outer Wilds uses two alien species to represent two conceptions of subjectivity: a transhumanism focused on technological augmentation of the human, and a posthumanism focused on decentring the human subject from philosophy and culture. This article argues that Outer Wilds leads the player through several Braidottian processes of posthuman “becoming.” Outer Wilds represents becoming-machine in the two species’ different approaches to technology, becoming-earth in embracing a geo-centred perspective on ecosystems beyond the subject, and becoming-imperceptible in the two species’ different approaches to death and the idea of the self. Through these becomings, Outer Wilds represents what it means to be a posthuman ethical subject in a world on the verge of collapse and emphasises the importance of acting in the face of an ongoing environmental disaster.
- Notes:
- This article is based on an essay written for the author's MA in Cultural and Critical Studies at Birkbeck, University of London and was specifically written for the module Key Concepts in Cultural and Critical Studies: Part 2 taught by Dr. Leah Sidi.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Journal article
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 2 years ago
- License:
- Attribution
bowie_press_start_7_1.pdf