"We Walk Amid Crowds, Ride, Fly and Fall with the Hero": Avatars and Posthumanism

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingOther chapter contribution

Abstract

This essay examines three portrayals of the self in terms of the Cartesian mind/body division. These presentations are from: (i) Surrogates; (ii) Avatar; and (iii) the experiences of a user controlling a digital avatar in Second Life. Through these analyses, the essay presents a posthumanism whose identity of self remains very much tied to the body in varying degrees and ways of relation. The interrogation of posthuman identity is thus a more nuanced strategy of slippage between real and digital worlds, where the body is not abandoned in favour of unlimited thought but is instead translated as alternative bodily experiences of sensuality, haecceity and perception.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Projected and the Prophetic
Subtitle of host publicationHumanity in Cyberculture, Cyberspace, and Science Fiction
EditorsJordan J. Copeland
PublisherInter-Disciplinary Press
Pages13-20
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-84888-087-0
Publication statusPublished - 2011

Keywords

  • posthuman
  • avatar

Cite this