critical analysis

How do we think about things — like electronic literature — that combine the operational aspects of computing systems with the affective and representational aspects of the arts? We could view them through the frameworks of computer science, the literary arts, or critical interpretation. These can all be valuable. But they are all, inevitably, partial. Wardrip-Fruin proposes that digital humanities frameworks can provide a way of thinking about the dual elements of electronic literature simultaneously. Here he provides a case study: a strand of research that is both in computational approaches to social simulation and in the creation of works that build upon, and guide the development of, these simulations. He discusses the digital humanities concepts of operational logics and playable models that help him and his collaborators understand their work as they carry it out.

Fan–idol relationships are shown to be based on emotions and to go beyond mere identification to include parasocial relationships and neo-religiosity. Results thus confirm the theoretical paradox between the television industry’s promotion of celebrity to attract loyal audiences and the rejection of fandom through a carefully constructed representation hereof as ‘freaky business’. How could a virtual girl, customized by hundreds of disparate fans across Japan, and quickly the world, come to have a singular persona? Easy, fans of Miku drew from an existing culture around adorable young pop stars to script a subjectivity for the drawing. Pulling from tropes in anime and manga, Miku was assimilated into a growing culture that celebrates fantasies of girlhood. Using social media and live-streaming services, many young girls in Japan are using performative techniques modelled in Anime shows to be signed by music producers and develop lucrative careers as entertainers. Not quite musicians, not actresses, and too invested in the affect of cuteness to be professionals, these young girls are called “idols”. 

This essay offers an in-depth analysis of the themes that dominate the work, "I Have Said Nothing." It also provides reference materials, both creative and critical, instrumental for a better understanding of the work. 

In his review of Stefan Herbrechter’s Posthumanism: A Critical Analysis, John Bruni addresses the technoscientific and philosophical varieties of posthumanism, and considers the necessity of moving beyond the “dehumanizing” effects of technocentric theories of cultural evolution. This critical project seeks to preserve freedom and agency, rejecting a concept of posthumanism as a side-effect of innovation in favor of one that sees change itself arising from social processes.

(source: http://electronicbookreview.com/thread/criticalecologies/unhumanly)