Browsing by Author "Boteju, L."

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Gamification of the Panopticon: Exploring the Post-panoptic Surveillance Culture in the Film Nerve
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Boteju, L.
This research study attempts to examine the techno-thriller film Nerve (2016) in order to locate the developments of Michel Foucault‟s concept of panopticism within the spaces of the post-panopticon of liquid surveillance. Panopticism refers to a form of social control where external surveillance is internalised such that one disciplines his or her own behaviour at the fear of being watched by a powerful entity, creating a selfregulated bio-political prison. Within today‟s postmodern culture of liquid modernity, where prior frames and references to social norms and institutions are increasingly disintegrating, traditional surveillance practices can be seen undergoing vast transformations as a result of the contemporary society‟s digiphrenic existence. The proliferation of mass media and social media has destabilized the unidirectional view of Foucault‟s panopticism, constructing a post-panopticon surveillance culture that democratizes the power to gaze across the participation of the larger community. Nerve (2016) directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman explores the perils of technology and social media surveillance across the dark journey of Vee, an introverted youth who gets drawn into a sinister virtual game,„Nerve‟; a heightened version of „truth-or-dare‟ that begins to manipulate her reality. Nerve depicts the gamification of reality, where principles of game and mobile application design are applied to everyday experiences, augmenting reality by simulating a veil of childish contentment.Although, the postpanopticon has deconstructed the hierarchies of the conventional model of surveillance, Nerve reflects how gamification operates to disguise the panopticon‟s functions to repress and regulate human society, by reproducing it as a medium of self-expression. Hence, across the theoretical perspectives of Foucault‟s panopticism and David Lyon‟s and Zygmunt Bauman‟s post-panopticon of liquid surveillance, this study aspires to trace the developments of the culture of surveillance in the film Nerve, in order to expound upon the impact of gamification in the reproduction of surveillance practices from one of bio-political governance to a platform for identity formation.
Pride And Prejudice And Zombies: Popular Culture And The Re-Imagination Of Austen’s Classic
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2018), Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Boteju, L.
This research study attempts to analyse Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in order to identify the influence of popular culture in the re-imagination of Jane Austen’s 18th century classic, Pride and Prejudice. Today, popular culture recognises Jane Austen as a self-sustained brand that has become a mainstream icon, beyond the domain of academics and classicists. Her captivating stories have surpassed the boundaries of ‘the novel’, inspiring many artistic creations such as cinematic works in the form of adaptations, prequels, sequels and spin-offs, mash-up literature, fan-fiction and comic literature. Belonging to the genre of mash-up literature, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies recreates Austen’s novel in an apocalyptic world infested with Zombie armies that provoke both men and women to master weaponry and the art of fighting to ensure their survival. This research study will analyse how Pride and Prejudice and Zombies recreates Austen’s world by its re-imagination of the social setting, gender constructions, class structures and the creation of intertextuality across other adaptations and literary genres, using the concepts of High culture and Low culture by Walter Benjamin and other Feminist, Marxist and Popular Cultural theoretical frameworks. Although Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has been adapted to a comic book and a movie, this research study will focus on the interpretation of the novel. This research study aspires to produce an understanding of how popular culture has enhanced the accessibility to literary texts and influenced the manner in which modern readers interact with the older text.