Article: Cyber-Transcendence and Immanence as a Religio-Spiritual Phenomenon in Cyberpunk Anime
Abstract
This article argues that Western cyberpunk narratives often suggest a technologically invoked transcendence, a cyber-transcendence, which represents a new ontolog-ical sphere and offers catharsis in dystopian scenarios. While Japanese cyberpunk anime also explore the idea of cyber-transcendence, the clear distinction between immanence and transcendence often becomes blurred. Aesthetic concepts invoking transcendence can be linked to the awe-inspiring kami (deities) of Japanese Shinto, which are intertwined with the immanent sphere of reality rather than external to it. In Western cyberpunk, cyber-transcendence seems to provide the sense of depth that Paul Tillich labels the “dimension of religion”, in contrast to postmodernist meaning-lessness. Cyberpunk anime provide an understanding of transcendence as a religious dimension that exists within reality
Preferred Citation
BibTex
Frey,Malte: Cyber-Transcendence and Immanence as a Religio-Spiritual Phenomenon in Cyberpunk Anime. In: Journal for Religion, Film and Media, Jg. 9 (2023), Nr. 2, S. 41-66. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/20123.
@ARTICLE{Frey2023,
author = {Frey,Malte},
title = {Cyber-Transcendence and Immanence as a Religio-Spiritual Phenomenon in Cyberpunk Anime},
year = 2023,
doi = "\url{http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/20123}",
volume = 9,
address = {Marburg},
journal = {Journal for Religion, Film and Media},
number = 2,
pages = {41--66},
}
author = {Frey,Malte},
title = {Cyber-Transcendence and Immanence as a Religio-Spiritual Phenomenon in Cyberpunk Anime},
year = 2023,
doi = "\url{http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/20123}",
volume = 9,
address = {Marburg},
journal = {Journal for Religion, Film and Media},
number = 2,
pages = {41--66},
}
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