This book is about the construction of identity in digitised and virtual screen environments. It investigates the phenomenon of three-dimensional virtual worlds in relation to our physical selves. Using four regions of Second Life as a foundation of analysis, this book explores the issues surrounding the body, embodiment, virtual space and tourism, as well as examining notions of subversion as they relate to gender and sexuality in screen environments. The key arguments put forth in this work have their foundations in poststructuralist theories of the body and the cultural construction of identity. Most important to this analysis are the cultural and social conditions that replicate dominant tropes of power and agency as they are applied to representational practices, such as embodying oneself via an avatar through the screen. The arguments in this book are readily extendible to other on-screen environments due to the proliferation of virtual environments and other social networks which are premised on real-time engagement through digitized interaction.
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vi | |
| Acknowledgements |
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vii | |
| Introduction |
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1 | (15) |
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1 Embodiment, Virtual Experience and the Body: Possibilities for Subversion? |
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16 | (23) |
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2 Tourism: Island Utopias in the Virtual Sun |
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39 | (22) |
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3 Intersections in Space, Nature and Mythology |
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61 | (22) |
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4 Masculinity, Mass Consumerism and Subversive Sex |
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83 | (24) |
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5 The Female Body in Virtual Space |
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107 | (25) |
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132 | (25) |
| Conclusion |
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157 | (6) |
| Notes |
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163 | (1) |
| References |
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164 | (10) |
| Index |
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174 | |
Jude Elund is Lecturer at Edith Cowan University, Australia, lecturing in New Media, Communication, Public Relations and Cultural Studies. Her specialisms include the social uses of technology as well as its political, philosophical and cultural implications, while her current projects include the investigation of subversive spaces and digital screen culture.
