Becoming others

Playing the virtual identity and intimacy

Authors

  • Jiaying Chen Department of Philosophy of East China Normal University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34024/prometeica.2022.Especial.13533

Keywords:

the virtual. identity. intimacy. play. online games. Otherkin.

Abstract

By revisiting Gilles Deleuze's notion of the virtual, this work examines what the virtual world means for our identity and intimacy. We sketch three effects of the virtual world: 1) the complete disintegration of public-private boundary; 2) the emerging performativity of virtual identities; 3) the destabilization of our ontology. From public life to multiplayer online role-playing games, we show the changing meaning of play in various contexts: performing, acting, and becoming. Following Richard Sennett's dramaturgical perspective of the public Man, we see people proactively perform the image to construct the real-world identity. Then in the video games, players choose a virtual identity to act in the game world, transforming it into a liminal space where continued identity transitions become possible. We analyze several cases, including Otherkin and Otaku subculture, to argue that virtual identity and community can bring ontological indeterminacy and propose a program that coexists with otherness.

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Author Biography

  • Jiaying Chen, Department of Philosophy of East China Normal University

    Jiaying CHEN is a writer and curator working on the cartography of technological embedded phenomena by multidisciplinary practice. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Western Philosophy at East China Normal University. Her texts are accessible on many art media. She won the Hyundai Blue Prize and was shortlisted for the Emerging Curators Project. China Academy of Art includes her paper in Forces of Reticulation. Co-writing and editing of Shanghai Contemporary Art Archival Project was published by MOUSSE.

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Published

2022-08-11

Issue

No. Especial (2022): Prometeica - nº Special

Section

Articles

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How to Cite

Chen, J. (2022). Becoming others: Playing the virtual identity and intimacy. Prometeica - Journal of Philosophy and Science, Especial, 11-20. https://doi.org/10.34024/prometeica.2022.Especial.13533
Received 2022-03-01
Accepted 2022-07-20
Published 2022-08-11