“The maze wasn’t made for you”: Artificial consciousness and reflexive narration in Westworld (HBO, 2016-)
Florent Favard
TV Series February 26, 2019 DOI: 10.4000/tvseries.3040 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Narration Reflexivity Television series Consciousness Science fiction Westworld |
| Key points | Argues that Westworld questions the nature of consciousness through a reflexive narrative blending free will, self-interest, and narratological clues about serial character writing. |
Abstract
This paper describes how the science fiction television series Westworld (HBO, 2016-present) questions the very nature of consciousness through a reflexive narrative blending matters of free will and self interest with clues on how to write a serial character, thus drawing on the rich heritage of narratively complex science fiction television series of the last decades. After detailing the “hard problem” posed by any definition of consciousness, the paper follows the series’ logic, successively questioning memory, improvisation and self-interest, while focusing on a narratological approach centered on possible worlds theory.