Critical Annotated Webliography Q1 by Melody Fung

Question 1:

Cyborgs are hybrid entities that are neither wholly technological nor completely organic, which means that the Cyborg has the potential not only to disrupt persistent dualisms [in language and thought] … but also to refashion our thinking’. (Balsamo). Drawing on current scholarly work, discuss ways in which the Cyborg is still a transgressive figure.

One may say that getting people turned into Cyborgs brings a lot of destruction to our good virtues and might disrupt one’s original private life. However, according to Frank Vander Valk’s article, “The continuing development of immersive virtual environments is a source of ongoing excitement for educators.” This article mentioned that the computer allows us to free our body and let us using only our pure mind to learn. By using avatars of the online virtual environment, we can emphasise the perfection we individuals have as in daily social activities. Virtual environment also provide a neutral zone for educators, which does not force anyone to do anything. The idea of self-invention seems to be appealing. However, it is also mentioned that the virtual environment might provide brute facts rather than institutional facts since it allows self-invention. Moreover, students using avatars are encouraged to re-present themselves but not the real themselves. The re-presented part of them is only the better part of themselves. This kind of representational perfection hinders a chance for the students to further understand themselves and notice their imperfections. These ideas clearly indicate how the virtual environment can bring in good and bad influences to us.

Online games, especially massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG), provide an environment for player to fully utilize one’s creation. With Anne-Mette Albrechtslund’s article, the way of construction of gender inside the games as the designed structure is studied. It is mentioned that the games providing nearly real experience for the players gives players a chance to experience formal level as ‘transparent’ and ideologically neutral. Online games also allow players to have their own social network. The projective identity online gives a meeting point for the player’s virtual and real-world identity, thus an exchange of values can take place. However, the boundary between online and offline identities in MMORPGs are less blurry then non-game virtual worlds. This is because in non-game virtual worlds, one’s identity is “game-less”. However, identities in MMORPGs can also be transgressive since one can present himself/herself as the opposite sex character. Yet, this can also be seen as a chance of challenging the social stereotype of femininity. MMORPGs offer a new possibility for people to reform or play with gender identities. The author thought that using avatars in the game world can perhaps be characterized oneself as a Cyborg as the player-avatar is an example of holding multiple identities influenced by different social practices.

To further study how Cyborg is interpreted, Mona and Salla’s article is a good example. The article focuses on the usefulness of Cyborg being a category within fields of studies. It only studies whether Cyborg have a potential to question nature/culture, hence whether really transgressive or not. “Cyborg can be seen as a metaphor for ‘the human’, questioning the boundaries that are a part of oppressive power-knowledge discourses.” It is also a part of our cultural imaginary. With Cyborg, it can be argued that Cyborg can help us to identify ourselves. It helps create meanings for ourselves and the others. It is not only a transgressive figure, but also helps us to research internet users and the intersection between humans and machines. One part that the article mentioned is really useful. It says “Cyborgs fascinate us, because they are not like us and yet they are just like us.” Therefore, when we are studying Cyborgs, we should be careful about what we are producing and using. It is because some of the representation of Cyborgs is images of our cultural fear and desires, which is the part like us, but some of the images and more alien-like, which is not like us.

Talking about the relationship between technology and transgression, Steve Mizrach’s article can be used for discussion. At the very first of his article he mentioned that technology is a weapon as it threatens the social order and it allows people to transgress the boundaries of their society. In his article he talked about different kinds of technology transgressions. People fell into different kinds of transgressions category and each of them has their own ethics or stance. Cyborg artists are also mentioned in Steve’s article. They reflect people willing to use their body as the canvas for art. This represents a sense of transgression of the human and machine boundary. It is because they recast ancient ideas in new scientific guises. They do not accept a linear evolution of society and time. Their use of technology kind of changes the time flow. The body artists on longer only rely on fire and guesswork but sterile machine-tooled piercing. People not only want to conquer land, but capitals and data. And with the help of technology, ancient scenes can be presented. With technology, human seems to be able to conquer everything as it develops. Yet if we simply treat technology as something dangerous, the result could be terrible since technology gives human possibilities.

Refashioning our thinking means that we are reconstructing our thoughts. Like what Hannah Mueller in her article says, she disagrees with Haraway’s phrase “borg-like consciousness” as it gives her an impression that we are trying to make everyone the same. She also questions if we do create online bodies that are as ‘good’ as our real ones. Still, she likes Haraway’s thinking of Cyborgs as it allows us to deconstruct and reconstruct ourselves. She also mentioned a sculpture made by Nathan Sawaya. The Lego-made sculpture is treated as remaking oneself by Mueller. The sculpture allows people to take a look at what we are make of and how the others look at us. However, a sculpture made of Lego is made by similar blocks. And this reminds me that in the virtual world, we characterized ourselves using those avatars, in which we have a variety of options to choose ourselves to be. However, that also means that the choice is limited even though choices are numerous. In this way does it imply that we are all the same in the internet, just like what Haraway says? Yet in Mueller eyes, everyone’s made up of many, maybe indefinite different parts, both physically and intellectually.

Moreover, in Esperanza Miyake’s article, she discussed whether Cyborgs is a little bit queer or not. She used the film Blade Runner as an example. The main character Daryl Hannah in the film is a Cyborg, but Miyake couldn’t stop herself thinking that Hannah is a she. She believes that women should place their bodies into the cybernetic domain. It is because it is the only way women can enter the ‘grid of control’ in this cyber infinite world. And this can also help women to achieve real liberation. The virtual world is a place which reflects and refracts culture. She also suggested a way for people to put the body inside the cyber world – read the words. The significance of words cannot be neglected. In this way, Cyborgs seems to be helping us the refashion the way we thinks rather than disrupting us.

Albrechtslund A. “ Gender and the Player Cyborg: Ideological Representation and Construction in Online Games”. Aalborg University, Denmark. 5 March 2009. <http://vbn.aau.dk/fbspretrieve/14201681/Gender_and_the_Player_Cyborg__Anne-Mette_Albrechtslund_.pdf>

Miyake E. “My, is that Cyborg a little bit Queer?”. Bridgewater State College. 5 March 2009. <http://www.bridgew.edu/soas/jiws/mar04/miyake.pdf>

Mizrach S. “Technology and Transgression”. Florida International University. 5 March 2009. <http://www.fiu.edu/~mizrachs/tech-trans.html>

Mona and Salla. “Haraway’s Cyborg – a feminist utopia?”. Utrecht University. 5 Mach 2009. <http://www.let.uu.nl/womens_studies/education/technobodies/docs/cyborg_notes_salla_mona.pdf>

Mueller H. “De/Reconstructing ourselves”. Gender and Technology Spring 2009. 5 March 2009. <http://gandt.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2009/01/28/dereconstructing-ourselves/>

Valk F. “Identity, Power, and Representation in Virtual Environments”. Merlot Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (2008). 5 March 2009. <http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no2/vandervalk0608.htm>

Thanks for reading. I hope I haven't bored anyone reading it to death lol =P