Black mirrors: reflecting (on) hypermimesis

Abstract

Reflections on mimesis have tended to be restricted to aesthetic fictions in the past century; yet the proliferation of new digital technologies in the present century is currently generating virtual simulations that increasingly blur the line between aesthetic representations and embodied realities. Building on a recent mimetic turn, or re-turn of mimesis in critical theory, this paper focuses on the British science fiction television series, Black Mirror (2011-2018) to reflect critically on the hypermimetic impact of new digital technologies on the formation and transformation of subjectivity.