Image, Identity and New Media - The notion of identity. Laurent Di Filippo

Transcription

1 Image, Identity and New Media - The notion of identity Laurent Di Filippo laurent.difilippo@im.uu.se

2 Aims of the Course Investigate some definitions of the notion of identity Undertand how to use this notion in a scientific research

3 Plan A complex notion Identity in use Etymology Alterity Context Co-construction Strategies of identification

4 A complex notion Various disciplines (psychology, sociology, cultural studies for us) Various definitions even in the same discipline The concept evolved rapidely the last 50 years From static to a more dynamic perspective : construction Processes of identification (Hall, 1996)

5 Etymology Latin idem, the same Suffix -ity for propriety as a fact or a quality Productivity, the fact to be productive Identity, the fact to be the same sameness according to Paul Ricoeur Must be observed (visible or measureable) Need of referents, identifiers

6 Identifiers Also called components, elements Part of a whole and interdependent Referents implies categorising Leads to the first definition of identity Identity is a set composed of interdependent elements which allow to reference and categorize a social agent (individ or group). Thoses elements must remain the samefor the identity to be observed.

7 Some identifiers and a paradox Name Skin Gender Profession But here, identifiers can change Paradox: identifiers must remain the same but at the same time they can change

8 Unity a set of individual propriety which remains relatively constant in time, Moessinger, 2000 Feeling of continuity with past events, but also with futur Allows projection Example: thinking about our future job leads to study a specific domain. Give a meaning and a direction to life

9 Narrative identity Identity answers the question : Who? (Ricoeur,1990) Tell the story of a life (Arendt,XXXX) Fictionnal construction which includes changing and cohesion Story that the social agent tells to himself and about himself Identity becomes the result of a dynamic process

10 Identifying ourselves To present some identifiers Must remain the same (ex: bank code) Identifiers are different according to the situation Not the same identifiers presented for a police control than for a cash dispenser Polymorphic structure (Kastersztein, 1990) Second paradox : identifiers allow categorization and at the same time individuallity

11 Alterity Latin Alter, the other Differentiate oneself from the other Happens during interaction Roles of the other An actor to differentiate from An actor to identify An actor who validates identity (recognition) Alterity, also a complex notion

12 Recognition Way to validate identity Role of the other (group members, team or public for Goffman) Recognition works by comparison, to classify or to admit the sameness Todorov's 2 levels of recognition Existence Value Linked to the notions of knowledge and information

13 Strategies of identity result of individual and collective actor elaboration which express in their every day move the adaptation according to the varied situations, the stakes (final purpose) and the ressources (Taboada- Leonetti, 1990) Elements to study Actors Situation Final purpose Ressources

14 Taking the context into account The term Identity is already heavily loaded Goffman's notion of Role (1973) (terms taken from theatre) A representation is given on a stage, in front of a public Ex : a teacher Importance of the backstage Ex: the office

15 Belongings Notion of team (Goffman) Linguistic communities may consist of small groups bound togother by face to face contact or may cover large regions, depending on the level of abstraction we wish to achieve (Gumperz, 1971) Imagined communities (Anderson,1983) Feeling of belonging based on shared symbols and values without direct contacts between actors

16 Identity so far A co-construction of a social actor by himself and other members of a society Double constraint : social and psychological Identity does not exist without Alterity Complex set of components which allows to situate oneself in its environment Allows recognition

17 Identity so far (2) Gives a meaning and a direction for action Result of dynamical processes Social agents use strategies to situate themselves in a certain context Can be considered as a narrative construction Involve belongings

18 Studying identity How to study something abstract? Look after its manifestations What can be used as data? Identifiers Relations and mechanisms Context and background Consider both the individual and the social persective

19 Other thoughts Multi-dimensional Identity (based on complexity by Edgar Morin) Open system with input and outputs Allows several disciplinary perspectives and articulation with other notions Focus on the internal and external relation which make the system work

20 Some references Anderson B., imagined communities, 1983 Goffman E., Presentation of the self in every day life, 1959 Goffman E., Stigma, 1963 Gumperz J. J., Languages in social groups, 1971 Hall S., Who needs identity?,1996 Ricoeur, Time and Narrative, 3 vol.,