Human no more : digital subjectivities, unhuman subjects, and the end of anthropology / edited by Neil L. Whitehead and Michael Wesch.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Whitehead, Neil L.

Wesch, Michael.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anthropology--Philosophy.

Anthropology.

Cybernetics--Philosophy.

Cybernetics.

Online social networks.

Computers and civilization.

Virtual reality.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (248 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Boulder : University Press of Colorado, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Turning an anthropological eye toward cyberspace, Human No More explores how conditions of the online world shape identity, place, culture, and death within virtual communities.Online worlds have recently thrown into question the traditional anthropological conception of place-based ethnography. They break definitions, blur distinctions, and force us to rethink the notion of the "subject." Human No More asks how digital cultures can be integrated and how the ethnography of both the "unhuman" and the "digital" could lead to possible reconfiguring the notion of the "human."This provocative and groundbreaking work challenges fundamental assumptions about the entire field of anthropology. Cross-disciplinary research from well-respected contributors makes this volume vital to the understanding of contemporary human interaction. It will be of interest not only to anthropologists but also to students and scholars of media, communication, popular culture, identity, and technology.

Contents:

Cover Page; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Contents; Introduction Human No More; HUMAN NO MORE?; EXPLORING POSTHUMAN LIMITS AND POSSIBILITIES; RETHINKING FIELDWORK IN THE AGE OF THE POSTHUMAN; BEYOND HUMAN NO MORE; REFERENCES; 1. The Mutual Co-Construction of Online and Onground in Cyborganic; PART 1; Online/Onground Mutuality in Cyborganic; Cyborganic's Place-Based Legacies: Silicon Valley and Bay Area Countercultures; Place, Media, and Colocation; Space Bar: Configurable Sociality from Colocation to Presence Casting; PART 2; Challenges of the Posthuman; NOTES; REFERENCES

2. We Were Always HumanEXTERNALIZATION AND REIFICATION OF THE SYMBOLIC; IDENTITY EXPRESSION AND EXPERIMENTATION IN THE AGE OF FACEBOOK; MEDIATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS; EXTENDING HUMAN CAPABILITIES: FROM HUMAN TO ... HUMAN?; REFERENCES; 3. Manufacturing and Encountering "Human" in the Age of Digital Reproduction; HUMAN OR MACHINE; CYBORG ANTHROPOLOGY; AZ_TIFFANY; REPRODUCING HUMAN; BLURRING AND REESTABLISHING BOUNDARIES; UPGRADING CYBORG ANTHROPOLOGY; SAM; ENCOUNTERING SAM; CONCLUSIONS ... AND BEGINNINGS; NOTES; REFERENCES; 4. The Digital Graveyard; DIGITAL TRACES, VIRTUAL PLACES

MY(DEATH)SPACEDEATH IN THE TRIBE(.NET); SPECTERS OF FACEBOOK; LIVING ON ONLINE; NOTES; REFERENCES; 5. Anonymous, Anonymity, and the End(s) of Identity and Groups Online; RESEARCHING ANONYMOUS; PLAYING WITH "IDENTITY"; ANONYMOUS AS CORE MORAL VALUE; ANONYMOUS AS CULTURAL CRITIQUE; THE END(S) OF IDENTITY; NOTES; REFERENCES; 6. Splitting and Layering at the Interface; INTRODUCTION; COMMUNICATIVE SPACES OF DIASPORA; TRANSNATIONAL ECONOMIES AND DIASPORAS DIGITALLY MEDIATED; SOUTH ASIAN DIGITAL DIASPORAS TO INDIAN DIGITAL DIASPORAS; POSTHUMAN ENACTMENT AND RE-PRESENTATION IN ONLINE NETWORKS

AVATAR/PROFILE/ICON AS (PERFORMATIVE) TECHNOLOGYNOSTALGIA REPRODUCED: AUTHENTICATING INDIANNESS; BOLLYWOODIZATION OF SOUTH ASIAN DIGITAL DIASPORAS; DESI YOUTH HANGING OUT IN DIGITAL DIASPORA; DESIS ON SECOND LIFE: DEEP HANGING OUT WITH RADHIKA; IS SHE "MORE" REAL BECAUSE I "KNOW" HER ON ORKUT?; INTERLUDE; Radhika (age 50):; Aditi (age 24):; Script 1; Script 2; Script 3; Final Script; CONCLUSION; NOTES; REFERENCES; 7. Avatar; THE INCREASING POPULARITY OF VIRTUAL WORLDS; PERSONHOOD AND IDENTITY; FORMING AND MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS IN VIRTUAL WORLDS; OVERCOMING DISABILITY; DISCUSSION

REFERENCES8. Technology, Representation, and the "E-thropologist"; REFERENCES; 9. The Adventures of Mark and Olly; THE GAZE OF HUMANISM: VISIONS OF ANTHROPOLOGY, VERSIONS OF CULTURAL CRITIQUE; FIRST CONTACT AS COLONIAL NARRATIVE; COLONIAL HUMANISM: THE FICTIONAL REALITY OF REALITY TV; MARKETING THE STONE AGE: REALITY TV AS VISUAL IMPERIALISM; THE PLEASURES AND HORRORS OF THE ETHNOGRAPHIC GAZE: A CULTURAL CRITIQUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY; NOTES; REFERENCES; 10. Invisible Caboclos and Vagabond Ethnographers; INTRODUCTION; STUDYING CABOCLOS; COLLABORATION; CABOCLOS AND HIPPIES IN THE SAME FRAME

CONCLUSIONS

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781457117381

145711738X

9781457117404

1457117401

9781607321705

160732170X

OCLC:

811615369