Participants' essays / Sami Haikonen /

Body and Identity in Virtual Space

Introduction
Networked computer has become an essential tool for human communication. We use e-mail, chat or inhabit the three-dimensional virtual communities. But beyond being this tool it is also "a new medium on which to project our ideas and fantasies" (Turkle 1995, 9). One of these fantasies is virtual community, where ideas and actions are shared in virtual space through mediated communication. We are increasingly mediated by technology. But what are the social and cultural consequences of computer-mediated communication?

One of these consequences is the loss of physical presence. The boundaries between the subject and the body are brought about in part through the mediation of technology as A. R. Stone has noted (Stone 1991, 99-102).

On this essay I will look at the consequences of the separation of the body and the subject on the basis of Stone's studies on virtual communities. I also consider the connection between the body and subject and how this connection forms an essential part of our existence, as discussed by Pauline von Bonsdorff, a Finnish professor of Aesthetics.

Body and subject in the mediated communication of virtual communities
According to Stone, the idea of virtual community dates back to the 17th century, when a group of people was able to witness a scientific experiment through academic paper without being physically present (Stone 1991, 85-99).

After these textual virtual communities the next big step in mediated communication was made with the rise of the electronic media in the 20th century. Radio introduced a different view of experiencing the physical body and the subject. The listener was in two places at the same time. The body was at home, but the subject that belonged to the body was in an imaginal space with another person. In virtual communities "an interface is that which mediates between the human body [...] and an associated "I" [subject]" (Stone 1991, 87). Thus the interface separates the body and subject.

Third period in the mediated communication was the rise of the information technology in the 1960s. The first virtual communities based on the information technology were the Bulletin Board Systems. As technology developed, it made possible the virtual avatar worlds like Online Traveller. In these communities the participants were used to the fact that their bodies were represented in an imaginal space with representatives of other individuals (Stone 1991, 94).

As Stone notes, we are witnessing an increasing mediation of human communication (Stone 1991). Computer mediated communication is superior compared to its ancestors, because it covers so many areas of our lives; it influences both our work and spare time.

Decoupling of the body and the subject
Stone introduces reasons for the separation of the body and the subject based on Francis Barker's social studies (1). According to Barker, the subject and the body fled from public and became privatized in Britain from the latter half of the 17th century and onwards. Social communication became indirect and mediated. The subject constituted itself through text. The body was harnessed to the use of machineries of the industrial age.

Stone summarises the separation as follows: "The body became more physical [that is to say object], while the subject became more textual, which is to say nonphysical. The split between the body and the subject is an inseparable part of the mediated communication. Paradoxically, the link between the body and the subject is an essential and inseparable part of our existence as Pauline von Bonsdorff indicates.

Re-coupling the body and the subject
The connection of the body and the subject is an existential question for Pauline von Bonsdorff. She argues that the self is more than a conscious subject (von Bonsdorff 1999). In her theory the self is divided into two parts: identity and individuality. Through individuality she introduces different aspects of self that are not represented in identity. According to von Bonsdorff, identity is a rational, conscious image of self and individuality refers to non-cognitive aspects of life. The common ground for identity and individuality is the body. Von Bonsdorff stresses that the non-cognitive aspects of human life are "existentially, aestically, ethically and socially important" (2).

Conclusion
If computer-mediated technology separates the body and the subject, how can we then reunite them? I suggest two alternative ways. Either we try to represent physicality in virtual space through audio-visual or textual representation or we can use physical interface. Unfortunately neither of these answers to the essential question of the separation between the body and the subject. But being aware of this separation is a good starting point for creating alternative spaces.

Some questions that should be asked when creating virtual spaces: Whose fantasies are projected when representing the body in virtual space? What social and cultural consequences the computer mediated communication has for our identities and our bodies?

Notes:

1. Stone (1991, 99-102) refers to Frances Barker's book The Tremulous Private Body: Essays in Subjection (London: Methuen, 1984)

2. Quote taken from the English abstract of article.

References:

von Bonsdorff, Pauline 1999. Ruumis, identiteetti ja yksilöllisyys [Body, Identity and Individuality] in Synteesi magazine (3/1999)

Stone, Allucquere Rosanne 1991. Will the Real BodyPlease Stand Up?: Boundary Stories about Virtual Cultures. Publlished in Cyberspace: First Steps. ed. Michael Benedikt. MIT Press.

Turkle, Sherry 1995. Life in the Screen. Identity at the Age of Internet. Simon & Schuster.