c y b o r g   m a n i f e s t o   2 . 0   ::   s e l f
::   r e m e d i a t e d

Bolter and Grusin, following up on their concept of remediation, explore how the self gets remediated through the new digital media and how this remediation shifts contemporary notions of the self since we all employ the media as 'representation machines' to define our personal and cultural identities.

Remediation operates through the logics of hypermediacy - the medium draws attention to itself and makes the user highly aware of the medium - on the one hand and immediacy - transparent mediation where the user 'forgets' about the medium - on the other hand. Both serve to provide an ultimately 'authentic/real' experience. Whereas immediacy in a virtual, networked environment creates a sense of immersion in the medium, hypermediacy creates a sense of multiple connections and affiliations, allowing for a simultaneous feeling of relation with the medium and feeling oneself physically in front of the machine. Both these workings are embedded in Donna Haraway's cyborg metaphor.

Consequently, the relation of the embodied self and the new media appear to be highly complex that can both enact and critique traditional notions of the self. Which one gets foregrounded is a matter of context and content. Hypertext then, with its feature of potential multilinearity, may reconceptualise the self as being fragmented, but its uses, content and context may still call for traditional notions of self.

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