Dystopia on Demand: Technology, Digital Culture, and the Metamodern Quest in Complex Serial Dystopias

Serial storytelling has the advantage of unlocking rather than simplifying the complexities of digital culture. With their worldbuilding potential, TV series open up new artistic horizons, particularly for the dystopian genre. Situated at the nexus of dystopia, complex TV, and a metamodern cultural logic, Dystopia on Demand: Technology, Digital Culture, and the Metamodern Quest in Complex Serial Dystopias offers readers novel insights into the dynamics of serial dystopias in the contemporary streaming landscape. Introducing the term 'complex serial dystopias' to describe series that allow audiences to engage with the dystopian premise from multiple angles, the book examines four Anglo-American series, including Black Mirror, Mr. Robot, Westworld, and Kiss Me First. The in-depth analyses trace the variety of ways in which these series offer critical reflections on the human-technology entanglement in digital culture.

Laura Winter hat am Lehrstuhl für Anglistische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft an der Universität Mannheim promoviert.

I. Introduction: Serialising Dystopia II. Dystopia, Complex TV, and Metamodernism 1. Technology and the Dystopian Imagination 1.1 Tracing the Human-Technology Entanglement 1.2 Digital Culture, the Good Life, and Resilience 2. Serialising Dystopia in Audio-Visual Culture 2.1 Challenging Escapism through Complexity 2.2 Worldbuilding and Modes of Complexities 3. Dystopia and Complex TV: A Metamodern Quest 3.1 Oscillation, 'Depthiness', and Other Metamodern Sensibilities 3.2 The End is (not) Nigh: Seriality and Utopia as Process III. Complex Serial Dystopias and the Human-Technology Entanglement 1. Technological Omnipresence in Black Mirror (2011-) 1.1 Navigating Screen Culture: The Black Mirror Universe 1.2 Invasive Technologies: Implants, Algorithms, and Robot Dogs 1.3 Dystopian Heroes and the Vortex of Hyperobjects 1.4 "Heaven is a Place on Earth": The Anthology's Metamodern Impulse 2. Society in Binary Codes: Mr. Robot (2015-2019) 2.1 Decoding the Dystopian Realism of Mr. Robot 2.2 Merging Hyperobjects: Visions of Technology & Capitalism 2.3 "Are you a 1 or a 0?": Elliot's Entrapment 2.4 Failed Revolutions: Hacking the Way to Utopia 3. The Uncanny Valley of Westworld (2016-) 3.1 Westworld: A Carefully Designed Microcosm for Visitors - and Viewers 3.2 "Going off script": Hedonism, the Good Life, and Malfunctioning Machines 3.3 "If you can't tell, does it matter?": Narratives and Unresolved Binaries 3.4 An Android's Utopia: Romanticising the Robot 4. VR Gaming and Postponed Utopia: Kiss Me First (2018-) 4.1 CGI meets Reality: VR Gaming and Dystopian Realism 4.2 "What you're hiding... it'll come out": Red Pill and the Unconscious 4.3 Coming of Age in Digital Culture: Leila's Solitary Quest 4.4 From Utopia to Eutopia: False Promises and the Infinite Deferral of Utopia IV. Conclusion: The Future of Dystopia, TV, and Hope V. Bibliography