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

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

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