ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I explain the theories of “the posthuman” and “posthumanism” that I engage with throughout this book in order to offer a brief overview for the reader and to situate this project within a broader framework. I outline the concepts of critical posthumanism that have been taken up in my research. These include the critique of the liberal subject; the rejection of the self as a fixed and bounded entity; the decentring of the human to unfix it from the focus of our worldview; and the multifaceted relationships that we have with these non-human others through postdualistic ideologies. Through these concepts, I argue for my notion of the “posthuman gamer” that the book aims to interrogate and explore. In doing so, I expand on the application of posthuman theory to the game environment. Whilst it is beyond the scope of the book to offer a full genealogy of posthumanism, I draw on some of the central themes of the philosophy, explaining their importance and relevance, before applying these to the avatar-gamer. This chapter sets out the context for the research in more depth.
