Hextech”-Hybriden: Technologie, Transformatie en de Dualiteit van de Cyborg in Arcane
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2025-07-08
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nl
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This study examines the animation series Arcane (2021, 2024) as a representation of the technological transformation of characters in relation to power, humanity and identity within an apocalyptic context, from a posthumanist perspective that integrates cyborg theory and animation studies. Central to the analysis are the transformations of Jinx and Viktor, whose narrative and visual representations reflect cyborg-like characteristics. By examining the series through theoretical perspectives drawn from Donna Haraway, Rosi Braidotti, and Adam Bostic, alongside insights from animation scholars such as Suzanne Buchan, Alan Cholodenko and Paul Wells, this thesis reveals how Arcane reflects tensions between humanity and technology.
The first chapter presents a thematic-narrative analysis of the metamorphoses undergone by both characters. Jinx’s psychological fragmentation and Viktor’s physical evolution are interpreted as hybrid processes in which autonomy and identity are destabilized. Haraway’s breakdown of boundaries between human, machine, and matter provides the foundation for the analysis, further expanded by Braidotti’s relational subjectivity and Bostic’s visually oriented cyborg theory.
The second chapter shifts to a visual “microanalysis” following Buchan’s methodology. Here, animation and stylistic techniques are examined as both carriers and producers of meaning. Glitch effects, “hyperanimation”, color design, and sound are interpreted as amplifiers of themes such as estrangement and technological symbiosis.
Arcane, through its aesthetic, stylistic choices and character development, presents a complex depiction of posthumanist themes. The series functions as a cultural mirror, implicitly confronting audiences with questions of identity, control, and the impact of technological hybridity. In this way, Arcane, when analyzed through a posthumanist lens, offers a meaningful contribution to contemporary debates on humanity and technological transformation.
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