Dogdom: Nonhuman Others and the Othered Self in Kafka, Beckett, and Auster

Abstract

This paper reflects on how Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, and, more recently, Paul Auster convey the fundamental 'unknowability' of animal perspectives in their respective prose works 'Investigations of a Dog ' (1922), Molloy (1955) and Timbuktu (1999) whilst at the same time conveying the closeness, even liminality, that canines possess. I make the claim that, as with speaking in place of another, speaking for oneself also entails the production of an Other and that these various efforts to read and give voices to dogs underline the rupture of the self-reflective human subject. The failing attempts to read canines result in the successful writing of human ignorance of nonhuman animal worlds, but they also expose the fissure within human autobiography.

Ergodic Video Games as Agonist of Masochism in Gamers

“…The critical ethical stance asserts that individuals, as beings capable of empathy, cannot entirely overlook the portrayal of violence in video games, particularly when such depiction becomes an end in itself. Consequently, in the discerning eyes of the most meticulous critical researchers, the game reflects a specific mode of reality perception, rather than merely representing a stance that may seem harsh to some (see more: Anderton, 2016). Additionally, James Newman (2002) has argued against the notion that video games are inherently ergodic, asserting that "video games can contain interactive or ergodic elements, and it is wrong to consider them solely as one type of experience and engagement."…”