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Recent Reflections on the Posthuman Condition in American Literature and Culture
  • ISSN: 1466-0407
  • E-ISSN: 1758-9118

Abstract

Virtual and artificial YouTubers (VTubers) show us digital embodiments that appear as computer-generated avatars and are animated by motion-tracking software. In their videos, their bodies traverse overlapping environments – streaming platforms, video games and even their physical environment. One figure through which one can understand these bodies as technocultural assemblages in their complex entanglements is the cyborg. As an analytical tool, the cyborg has emerged as a concept to think about bodies outside of mere juxtapositions such as nature and culture or man and woman. Instead, she emphasizes organic–machinic connections. By looking at the three examples of Miquela Sousa, Ai Angel and CodeMiko, I reconsider VTubers’ videos as . Accordingly, I re-examine the figure of the cyborg and its limitations as a tool for analysis. In doing so, I ask about the (dis)embodied and animated facets of VTubers and their avatars’ bodies. Finally, I discuss VTubers as posthuman icons beyond the cyborg, examining the relationship of VTubers’ bodies to transcendence and immanence.

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2024-12-09
2026-04-23

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/content/journals/10.1386/ejac_00129_1
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Posthuman icons: Virtual YouTubers’ bodies beyond the cyborg
European Journal of American Culture 43, 305 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1386/ejac_00129_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ejac_00129_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ejac_00129_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): critical posthumanism; cyborg imagery; cypherg; digital anthropology; embodiment; iconography; netnography; techno-animism

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