johan fornas. charis xinaris_mediated identity formation

8/18/2019 Johan Fornas. Charis Xinaris_Mediated Identity Formation

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MEDIATED IDENTITY

FORMATION

CURRENT TRENDS IN

RESEARCH AND SO CIETY

JOHAN FORNÄS

CHARIS XINARIS

Abstract

This paper aims to overview the current processes and

challenges tha t relate to how media developments influence

- and are influenced by

-

the ways in which personal

and

collective iden tities are fo rmed in contemporary societies.

First it discusses ways to approach and define the concept

of identity from

a

media perspective. A discussion

of

how

iden tity form ation issues links

to

the concept

of

new media

literacies forms

a

transition to three sections that in turn

analyse the social trends the policy trends and

the

scientific

trends that may be discerned in this area.

he

final section

first summarises key research questions and then offers

some more concrete ingredients

for

identifying possible

instruments of

a

new research agenda.

Johan Fornäs is Professor

at the Departnnent of Media

and Communication Studies

at Södertörn University;

e-mail: [email protected].

Charis Xinaris is Assistant

Professor and Vice-Chair

at the Department of

Humanities European

University Cyprus; e-mail:

[email protected].

Q.

Q.

IN

O

N

O

I

a

0

0


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ontemporary Perspectives on Mediated Iden tities

Ident i ty format ion can be broadly descr ibed as the development of ways to

define and give meaning to individuals or collect ives in relat ion to others and to

them selve s. Identi t ies are formed bo th from w ithin an d from the outs ide, in a com-

plex in terplay of mu tua l recogni tion and u nd erst and ing of se lf and others . Ident i ty

format ion in re la tion to both 'o ld ' and 'ne w ' med ia has been the subject of va r ious

hu m an it ies an d social sciences discou rses, inclu din g analyse s of subject form ation

in different m ed ia gen res (from ro m an ce nove ls to talk show s) as well as audie nce

research on how di fferent p eople us e med ia as resources in thei r every day l ives .

People shape thei r tools of communicat ion that then shape them. This i s par -

t icular ly true of identi ty formation in the digital era, where the development of

consciousness (e.g. individual , social , nat ional , racial or gender) is profoundly

mediated by uses of communicat ion technologies and ident i f icat ions and there-

fore direct ly l inked to expe riences of m ed ia use. Ind ivid ual self-u nde rstan ding

increasingly has to negot ia te how dif ferent ident i ty d imen sions are pro po sed and

ord ere d in m ed ia texts of vario us kin ds (N ava 2007; Benne tt et al. 2011). This m ay

be extended to d iscussions concerning the format ion of hybr id ident i t ies which

for instance re late to cyberbodies a nd gam er subc ul tures; format ions of ind ividu al

idenfity and identificafion w ith 'othe rs ' ; performative social netw ork s that con struct

imagined identi t ies; and new forms of l inguist ic and cultural hybrid identi t ies that

are both produced and ref lected by new forms of archiving and interaction.

Ident i ty i s a term that incorporates two seemingly opposi te meanings, as i t

implies both aff i l iat ion with another and individual uniqueness in terms of a dif-

ference from the other . I t suggests belonging, as in being part of a community, as

well as m ak ing oneself dist inct; i t signif ies bot h sam ene ss an d difference. Iden ti ty

is no t just a s trict

s meness

across t ime or space, eve n tho ug h i t of ten im plies so me

kind of similar i ty, in that for instance somebody is recognisable over t ime or the

members of a collect ive enti ty share some character ist ics. I t has another aspect

M that m ay be cal led

selfhood

a djmamic project with a cultural dimension, l inked to

III the effort to give m ean ing to oneself an d to oth ers thr ou gh signifying practices of

A interp retat io n (Ricoeur 1990/1992). Such signifying proce sses m ak e use of var ious

•I k ind s of symb ols that are me diated thro ug h shif ting m od es of com mu nicat ion,

5 thereb y l inking iden ti ty forma tions closely to m edia proces ses. Co nse que ntly, the

topic of iden ti ty forma tion inco rpora tes a nu m be r of contra dict ion s to be exp lored

U thro ug h an in terdisc ip linary app roach .

Ja Identities are formed on different levels, from the ind ividua l to ove rlapp ing

• sets

of

social collectives.

O n

shif t ing scales , s imilar processes

of

identif ication

d e -

^ v e l o p on a l l such levels , though th e p rec i s e dynamics va ry . F o r ins tance, there is

M today

a

contes ted project

of

add ing , cons t i tu t ing

o r

conso l ida t ing

a

s t r e n g t h e n e d

•I E uro pe an ident i f ica tion that

i s n o t

m e a n t

to

subs t i tu te o lder , regional

o r

n a t i o n a l

ident i f ica t ions , b u t ra the r to s u p p l e m e n t t h e m ( A rs l an et al . 2009; Uric chio 2008,

Fo m ä s 2012). This project

h a s

since

i t s

eme rgence be en r ecur ren t ly

in

crisis,

a n d

P E u r o p e a n m e d i a s t u d i e s s h o u l d b e able to offer im po r tan t ins ights in to t h e d y n a m -

Uf

ics an d

d i l e m m a s

of

European ident i f ica t ion ,

n o t

least

in

re la t ion

t o n e w

m e d i a ,

I e thnic d ivers i ty

a n d

generat ional sh if ts .

T h e

in te rne t

in

par t i cu la r

h a s

bee n s een

.,_(

a s

h a v i n g

th e

po ten t ia l

fo r

t r a n s n a t i o n a l d ia l o g u e t h r o u g h

i ts

o p e n

a n d

par t i c ipa -


3/16


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media use. More research is needed to find out how such interactive mechanisms

between media practices, identity formations and democratic politics actually

function.

This also raises questions of who is considered to be literate today and how

liberating media competence is in relation to identity formation. It is often argued

that increased and facilitated access to media use and media content enables the

individual to form identity in a more informed, responsible and critically aware

manner. On the other hand, some democratic forms of access to media use and

content tend to fix subjects in set identity formations that may appear fluid and

boundless but in practice serve as new forms of oppression, for instance with the

invasion of privacy, victimisation, abuse and networked group pressure. There is

therefore

a

need to strike

a

balance between emancipatory and auüioritarian traits in

new media practices and skills. Issues of media competence and identity formation

always implicate issues of power, where there tends to be problematic imbalances

between different social groups (in terms of class, gender, ethnicity, age, etc.) as

well as between individual citizens and political or commercial institutions (state

and market actors; Canclini 1995/2001).

This furthermore gives rise to questions of the subject of media competence.

Do audiences need to be educated or should corporations be targeted - or both?

This is in turn related to whether media content is primarily determined by so-

cio-economic factors, media corporations, audiences or wider cultural trends in

society. Such questions point towards a need to differentiate among different types

of media competence, related to different media contents or genres, as well as to

different media users (the elderly, for example, seem not to be as often researched as

younger users). Such a differential approach may also take account of the ever-faster

fragmentation of audiences, enabled by the new communication technologies and

growing individualisation in media use (Livingstone

2005).

At the same time, the

links between such different types must not be forgotten, as both ordinary users

and media industries increasingly tend to develop intermedial connections that

M allow various contents to move between different platforms.

• T r e n d s

n

S o c i e t y

Media impinge upon almost all aspects of contemporary life, including key

financial, social and cultural processes. To study media is therefore an important

_ pathway for understanding fundamental processes in society and the human con-

w dition more generally. In the last two decades, media have undergone profound

fi changes linked to digitisation, globalisation and commodification. Digitisation

Y shapes a shared technological platform for telecommunication, media and ICTs

^ (iriformation and communications technologies), offering new multimodal forms

M of expression and exchange. Globalisation is facilitated by satellites and cables that

Q offer instant communication and networked interaction with distant others through

networked mobile devices. Commercial enterprises push these processes forward

• and shape media products and processes of use by familiar fault lines in terms of

g class, gender, ethnicity, age and region. Even though terminologies vary, there is

(y a wide consensus among researchers that contemporary societies are increasingly

media-saturated, so that these new technological, economic and socio-cultural me-

,_4 dia developments together constitute a médiatisation of society, whereby complex


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ensembles of media processes impact on all dimensions of social life (Elliott Urry

2010; Hepp 2011/2013; Hjarvard

2013;

Morley 2006). Ln

In particu lar, these societal changes have clear implications for idenfity forma- ^

tions.

A widened range of societal debates and conflicts are today centred upon

identity issues: intergene rational shifts, gender inequalities, national issues, ethnic

relations, European integration, human rights, multiculturalism and xenophobia

all have a prima ry focus on issues of collective and individual identity, which are

in turn strongly related to uses of media genres an d technologies. The latter are

obviously related to the former, but it remains an open quesfion whether new m edia

have opene d new links between people or just offered new m ode s of being alone

together (Turkle

2011).

Joint European med ia research has therefore started to take

such issues seriously, and approac h iden tity formations as they are constructed by

the use of various kind s of media, which is for instance impo rtant w hen it comes

to the interplay betw een new waves of media technologies and complex sequenc-

es of overlapping generations among media users, audiences and publics. Media

policies and ide ntity policies at both the nationa l and European levels also need to

be considered in this respect as they rep resent a social and d emocratic response to

the challenges pu t forward by the men tioned societal changes. Moreover, pub lic

policies reflect the public efforts w ithin societies directed

to

an organised regiilafion

of media development trends.

The term 'm edia tion' deno tes that something functions as a linking device be-

tween different entities. Media are socially organised technologies made for being

used in the practices of com munication that are prime exam ples of such m ediating

processes. 'Médiatisation' refers to a historical process whereby such media in-

creasingly come to saturate society, culture, identifies and everyday life. There is

currently an intensified acfivity among E uropean scholars to discuss and clarify this

alleged process of médiatisation, in a nu m ber of intem ational conferences, w ork-

ing groups a nd publications. There is a need for theoretical developmen t to better

und erstan d whether and in which respects various aspects of society and everyday

life are becoming more mediatised, and in what sense: how has this changed over

time, which forms may be discem ed in different world regions, wh at dimensions

and spheres of life ancl society are affected, and with wh ich results. Still, there is a

widesprea d discourse that takes such developm ent for granted, indicating a need

for a deeper understand ing of how m edia

texts,

technologies and p ractices interact

and affect identity formation on both an individual and a collective level.

Serious efforts are today m ade to upho ld a reasonable balance so that the social

effects of new media technologies are fully acknowledged but not overestimated

(Hepp et al. 2008; M orley

2006).

It seems for instance clear that netw orked digital

modes of communication and so-called social media of various kinds have had

strong (fliough contested) repercussions on social and political life. The Arab

Spring offered ample evidence to the way text messaging, mobile pho ne cameras

and blogs have affected civic resistance as well as state and marke t surveillance.

But at the same time, processes of remedi tion (whereby new media lean on and

reshuffle aspects of older ones, and vice versa) imply that the older media forms

and practices largely rem ain in place too (as do indeed certain traditional forms of

political power and ideology; Bolter

Grusin 1999). One cannot take for granted

that new p heno me na m ake the older ones obsolete. For instance, in most cou ntries


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television is still the dom inant me dium in terms of time of usage in the majority

popu lation, followed by radio, while the internet continues to reproduce impo rtant

structures, forms and contents from the established m edia (p ress, books, TV, radio ,

film, music med ia, etc.). Also, television largely rem ains among the most socially

widesprea d med ia forms, wh ile the internet still has a very biased use in term s of

class and other identity categories. Conventional mass media are now em bedding

social media for increased aud ience pa rticipation and identification, g iving rise to

remediation and intermedial hybridity rather than a simple substitution of one

medium for another. Today new research is looking at how such combinatory

flexibility and hybrid media use is causally or otherwise linked to new m ode s of

being and identification. Such considerations must be kept in mind when formu-

lating policies for meeting the presen t m edia situation an d env isaging their future

developments.

In a media saturated world, audiences are bombarded w^ith messages and

information. However, it remains to be seen how m uch m edia content aud iences

actually absorb and how much they filter out, and whether there is any wider

spread of a social med ia fatigue synd rom e wh ere individu als are overloaded and

therefore tend to abando n network activities. Perhaps too m uch agency has been

placed on technology and there is therefore a need to reconsider how institutions

and ind ividuals cope in media saturated world. In addition, if everyone processes

information through

filt r

bubble, then it is perh aps necessary to investigate how

to empow er pe ople in their need to break the bubble. This is particularly im portan t

when it comes to issues of me dia com petence as people need to be aware that they

are in a box (or in a num ber of different boxes ), and to this effect, a broade r

perspective of m edia competence is needed . It seems that the latter is also a key

point for policy formation.

Besides its fundamental intersecting of diverse indiv iduals, collectives, iden tity

orders and symbolic modes, idenfity formation in an increasingly mediafised society

involves the increasingly complex interaction of several key levels. Identities are

M always symbolically expressed, and whe n these modes of signification involve a

¡•j grow ing scale of media technologies, the potential gap increases betw een (a) the

Ä 'front-stage' performance of idenfity, for instance in shifting internet env ironm ents,

•I (b) the often complex and hybrid 'back-stag e'understand ings of selves and others

5 in everyday life, and (c) the industries and institutions' wa ys of ma naging and

' • organising how identities can be formed and comm unicated.'

Trends in edia Policy

' J ' M ost pol ic ies focus on com puter-b ased ICT com petence , as a tool for v i r tua l

^ col laborafion, informafion processing an d learrung in ¿le wo rkplac e or in educafion

M (e- leaming) . M edia com petence i s a broa der term, em bracing the shaping , shar ing ,

Q (cri tical) eva luat ion and use of prin t as well as aud iovis ual an d digi tal m edia . Di-

H vides rem ain betw een def in i tions of ICT com petence versus m edia comp etence . Al l

P pol icy do cum ents agree tha t mo re systemat ic and t rans-bo rder research i s ne ede d

g in ord er to facil itate effect ive policy- ma king, bu t pub lic an d priva te stak eho lder s

iD differ in identifying the app rop riate aims and outc om es of such research. W hile ICT

T com petence spr ead s rapid ly and i s s tand ardise d to be re la tive ly easuy transferred ,

.,__i m ed ia com peten ce de m an ds efforts that enab le un de rs ta nd in g of a w ide ran ge of


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social processes (cultural, historical, language, etc.). The interactions between the

two interconnected spheres of competence (ICT and the m edia) need therefore to

be studied in the perspective of the media and ICT policy trends.

Besides political and social citizenship, research as weU as politics have increas-

ingly recognised

the

importance of cultural citizenship which requ ires access to tools

for active participation in those communicafion pracfices that underp in civic society

and its mu tually overlapping public spheres (Canclini 1995/2001; Stevenson

2001;

Cardoso 2007; Fom äs et al. 2007). This dem and s access to the means to fully use the

widest possible range of me dia in dialogues with o thers. ommunicative rights a im

to secure the dem ocratic availability of three ma in kin ds of such m eans: material,

social and personal resources. Material resources for interaction include access

to many kind s of m edia texts and technologies; social resources imply access to

interactive netw orks and pu blic spheres in wh ich such m edia forms circulate; and

personal resources point towards the area of media com petence in a mo re narrow

sense, including access, know ledge and critical education.

Citizens all over the world use a wide range of com mun ication me dia to satisfy

their personal, social and economic needs as well as to try and intervene in the

political arena. Govemments on local, state and supra-state levels also develop

increasingly soph isticated m ethods for administering society and meeting p opu lar

opinions and movements either with democratic or non-democratic measures.

M edia and comm unication issues are increasingly important in virtually all policy

fields of today, including both market policies in the economic sphere and gov-

ernme ntal policies in the political sphere. To a large extent these negotiations and

struggles relate to issues of identity formation. One exam ple is ho w Europ ean in-

tegration has a key com erstone in the efforts to make E urop e's citizens identify as

Europeans and not just as different from the rest of Europe (Bondebjerg Golding

2004; Uricchio 2008; S alovaara-Moring 2009). Ano ther example is how equality is-

sues relating to gender, sexuality, ethnicity and othe r idenfity dim ension s are more

and more placed at the core of policy development for new media technologies

and content (Arslan et al. 2009; Olsson Da hlgren 2010).

Co-extensive to that is the issue of policies on privacy and copy right, as the two

intersect when it comes to the use of social media . The sexualisation of society, as

well as an apparent lack of media competence and sexual education, often make

users (especially yo uths) m ore vulnerable to various kin ds of dangers, threats an d

abuse. Therefore, the conditions un de r w hich agency and self-governance is exer-

dsed need to be re-examined. The issue of copyright is also related to the distribufion

of cultural capital and how that is distributee , as curren tly the information gap s of

poUcy m akers seem to have prev ented the creation of policy related to this issue.

The changes in the media and in the way these have changed identities need to be

interlinked with new policies wh ich reflect recent developme nts.

A policy for cultural citizenship and communicative rights needs to reflect

up on the main ongoing deve lopm ents in media, cultiire and politics. Processes

of

médiatisation and new challenges to the existing political and economic structures

combine into an urgen t dem and for reformulating the interfaces betw een identity

formation and new media.


8/16

Trends in esearch

Media studies have developed at most European universities, but in rather

disparate ways - from sub-sections within a mother discipline to independent,

interdisciplinary departm ents bo th in commercial as well as academic traditions.

Media studies embrace an equally wide array of foci, evolving out of the social

sciences and hum anities, and draw ing on

a

wide range of tradifional an d emergent

disciplines. There is also a range of strong intemational research societies in the

field (ECREA, ICA, IAMCR, etc.).

There are many different branches of media studies of identity formation.

W hereas in the late twentieth century, this academic field was divided by deep and

often antagonistic gaps, one may today discern considerably m ore convergences

and dialogues between positions and perspectives that supplement rather than

fight each other. Instead of distinct and m utually hostile camps, there

is

more often

a dynam ically interw eaving set of currents tha t sometimes reinforce, sometimes

contradict each other.^

This is for instance true of textual and contextual approaches. There has for

many decades been a number of cultur l turns, including the development of

cultural sociology and of cultural studies, together with a general awareness in

the wider social sciences of the importance of cultural factors and dimensions in

various social and hum an spheres. Within media studies,

t is

has implied a greater

attention no t only to genres of arts, entertainmen t and pop ular culture, but also in

a wide r sense to signifying practices and aesthetic aspects in all kinds of med ia and

comm unication processes. As identity has to do

w ith

social actors' m eaning-mak-

ing, this in turn has reinforced the interest in identity issues. At the same time,

interpretations have become m ore aware of the importance of contexts so that the

cultural acknowledgement of meaningful texts has fused with a complementary

attention to social contexts. As a result, identity formations hav e become under-

stood as resulting from sigrüfying practices that link ind ividuals and collectives to

M various forms of meaning, always med iated through communicafive resources that

•

opera te w i th in

a

complex

set of

social contexts .

I n o n e

sense ,

th e

cu l tu ra l

a n d t h e

•

contex tual curre nt seem

to

contradic t each o ther ,

a s

they e i the r expa nd

o r

de l imi t

• the

s cope

o f

symbol ic forms ,

b u t in

ano ther s ense , they supp lem en t each o the r

a n d

5 h a v e b l e n d e d in fruitful w ay s, for ins tance in the diverse field of cu l tu ra l s tud ies

"

(Si lvers tone 1999; Co uld ry 2000; L eht one n 2000) .

Q

T h e

d e v e l o p m e n t

of

n e w , n e t w o r k e d

a n d

e lect ronic m ed ia technolo gies

h a s h a d

£ far- rea chi ng effects

o n

ident i fy ing pract ices ,

for

ins tance

a s a

resul t

of a

h e i g h t e n e d

( •

c o m p r e s s i o n

of

t ime

a n d

space

a n d a

convergence be twe en d i ff e ren t m od es

of ex -

^ press ion , technologies a n d b ra n c h e s . M u c h c o m m o n a s wel l a s academic d i s cus s ion

ifj of th is digital t u r n h a s p r o d u c e d th e expres s ion of a radical break that complete ly

•I al ters

th e

cond i t ions

for

everyth ing f rom pol i t ica l agenc y

to fan

cu l tu re .

T h e

w h o l e

S d i s t inc t ion be tw een ' o l d ' a n d ' n e w ' m e d i a is b a s e d o n that idea . At the s am e t ime ,

B inf luent ia l cur ren ts of m e d i a h i s t o r y h a v e e m p h a s i s e d th e intermedial connec t ions

2 b e t w e e n

' o l d ' a n d ' n e w '

m e d i a ,

a n d t h e

fact ¿lat

n e w

fo rms

of

m e d i a t i o n a l w a y s

(Q rem edi ate o lder forms

a n d

gen res . This

i n

t u r n t e n d s

to

relativise

th e

recent d ig i ta l

~^ t u r n a n d p o i n t a t cer ta in cont inui t ies across t ime. Again , there a re bo th affinities

. ^ a n d

t ens ions be tw een th i s pa i r

of

cu r ren t s ,

a s

d ig i ta l

a n d

in te rmed ia l pe r spec t ives


9/16

on mediated identities offer slightly different takes on change and continuity in

media history (Bolter Grusin 1999; Herkman et al. 2012). CT»

Another pair of themes concems the basic coordinates of time and space. A

^~

historical current has revitalised an interest in not only understanding the present

situation as if it was autonomous from all that came before, but rather linking the

present to the past and the future, focusing on various kinds and levels of temporal

processes. This is not least important for identity issues, as identification has very

much to do with tracing genealogies and trajectories of subjects across

time,

recon-

structing identity positions that link past

to

contemporary acfions. At the same time,

a

spatial

current has also been notable, with studies of communication geography,

city branding and media ethnography. This is likewise essential for identity issues,

where a move from abstract and universal ideas to situated modes of understanding

has been influential. Here, the spaces and locations where identities are made by

uses of media are put in focus, making use of ethnographic or geographic modes

of mapping. Just as time and space need to be understood together, there is also a

need to synthesise historical and spatial perspectives in media studies of identity

formation (Kittler 1997; Hörisch

2001;

Falkheimer Jansson 2006; Morley 2006;

Fomäs et al. 2007).

A strong visual current has been notable, fuelled by the success of new visual

media forms. Verbal interpretations are not enough, and there is a need for refined

readings of the visual markers and landscapes that define individuals and groups.

However, aural modes of communication, not least music but also speech, continue

to be of vital importance in today's mediascape. Music is sadly neglected in much

ordinary media studies, while being focal for much of the content and use of new

as well as older media. There is a great need to develop new innovative methods

for understanding how mediated sounds work as tools for identity formation, and

not neglect this analysis and leave it to dedicated musicologists or other sound

specialists(McCarthy 2001; Sturken Cartwright 2001; Steme

2003;

Nyre 2008;

Erlmann 2010).

One may also discern

a material

current, where some from

a

perspective of media

archaeology have argued for

a

focused attention on the materiality of media effects

instead of interpreting meanings. This stands in a dialectical relation to another,

discursive current, which focuses on how meanings are made across media texts.

Discursive approaches map out the webs of communicating meaning that organ-

ise the social world, and how such ordering mechanisms position and constitute

human subjects. In some ways, the two again contradict each other, in that radical

discourse analysis tends to deconstruct material worlds (from sensual and affective

bodies

to

technological machines)

as

effects of social and communicative discourses,

while on the other hand materialist positions have argued against textual analysis

of mediation and for a retum to immediate lived experience and material effects.

For instance, are human bodies and technical artefacts in communication practices

to be seen as extratextual material actors or textual discursive constructs? On closer

scrutiny, the two streams often run in parallel, in important efforts to understand

the close interaction between materiality and discourse, seeing materiality not as

an alternative to meaning but instead focusing on the close interaction between

the two (Shields 1996; Sunden 2003; Turkle 2011; Hayles 2012).


10/16

ey Research Questions

In conclusion, it is imp or tan t that future research in me dia s tud ies ad dres ses

the issue of idenfity form ation as both a consequence and a cause of en g ag emen t

w ith me dia-related technology and producfion. Altho ug h current research ha s dealt

wi th

a

variety

of

aspects

of

identi ty formation from

a

media s tudies perspect ive,

re levant research ques t ion s and topics of inve s t igat ion in this area ma y be seen as

com prising three major thema tic categories w hich aim to explore

1)

h o w med i a t ed

ident i ty format ions are changing today; (2) w hy these changes take place; and (3)

what are thei r main consequences .

1. ow are med iated identity forma tions chang ing today? This first category of

ques t ions is concerned w i th def ining and descr ibing ongo ing chang es of ident i ty

formation . This relates issues of individ ual , social an d c ultural identif ies to nofions

of diversity and p o wer .

a. Individual social and cultural iden tities: As individ ual ident i ty format ions in ter -

ac t w i t h s o c i a l

and

col l ecfive id en t i f i caf ion s

and

w i t h t h e s j o n b o l i c f o r m s

of

i d e n t i t y

t h a t are c o n s t r u c te d in v a r i o u s m e d i a t e x t s and g e n r e s in a r t s and e n t e r t a i n m e n t , it

a p p e a r s r e le v a n t

to

e x a m i n e t h e w a y s u c h f o r m a t i o n s w o r k . M o r e o v e r , t h e i s s u e of

s e l f - i d en t i f i ca t i o n of an i n d i v i d u a l or a s o c ia l g r o u p and its i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h o t h e r

i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s

as

w e l l

as

t h e i r s t r u g g l e

for

r e c o g n i t i o n t h r o u g h d if fe r e n t m e d i a

f o r m s is d i r e c t l y r e l e v a n t h e r e . T h i s is r e i n f o r c e d by the r o l e of m e d i a - f o c u s e d s u b -

c u l t u r e s s u c h a s f a n s , g a m e r s

or

' h a c k t i v i s t s ' , p a r t i c u l a r l y c o n s i d e r i n g t h e c h a n g i n g

r o l e of p u b l i c i n s t i t u t i o n s - f r o m a r c h i v e s and l i b r a r i e s to m u s e u m s and p u b l i c

s e r v i c e m e d i a

- in

s u p p o r t i n g id e n t i t y f o r m a t i o n

and the

d y n a m i c

of

t h a t c h a n g e .

b . Diversity

and

power:

In

a d d i t i o n

to

t h e s e i s s u e s , s o c i a l f r a g m e n t a t i o n

and me-

d i a f r a g m e n t a t i o n as t h e y r e l a t e to a u d i e n c e p o w e r and i n s t i tu t i o n a l p o w e r p l a c e

i d e n t i t y f o r m a t i o n

in a

field

of

t e n s i o n .

The

d i s t r i b u t i o n

of

c u l t u r a l c a p i t a l a c r o s s

s o c i a l s p a c e as w e l l as the i n t e r s e c t i o n s b e t w e e n di ff e re n t i d e n t i t y d i m e n s i o n s

s u c h

as

a g e , g e n d e r , c l a s s

a nd

e t h n i c i t y p l a y

an

i m p o r t a n t r o le

in the

f o r m a t i o n

of

I » i d e n t i t y . T h e r e is a n e e d to e x a m i n e the m a t e r i a l i ty of m e d i a t e d id e n t i ti e s , w h i c h

IHI iden t i t i es

are

e x c l u d e d

or

m a r g i n a l i s e d

in

c u r r e n t m e d i a p r a c t ic e s , w h i c h

are the

A p e r f o r m a t i v e a s p e c t s

of

i d e n t i t y f o r m a t i o n ,

and

w h i c h b o d i e s ( e. g. g e n d e r e d , a b l e d /

fi disabled, young/aging) matter while others do not. For instance, the performances

2 of (masculine, feminine or 'queered') gender and sexual identity are affected by

• • d e v el o p m e n ts of 'ne w ' med ia access and content in feminis t g roup s , male subcul-

Q tures , in ternet po rno grap hy, dat ing, chat - rooms, blogs , informat ion webs i tes , e tc .

^ (A hm ed 2006; Butler Spiva k 2007). Th ere is furthe r a n eed to co me to grips w i th

fi the w ays in wh ich 'hate rs ' of variou s kind s (misogynisfic, hom oph obic , xenop hobic,

I sectarian or fund am entalis t ' t rol ls ' etc. ) thre aten to un de rm in e efforts to m ak e n ew

j j j media a vital e lem ent in the publ ic sph ere .

m 2. Why have key modes o f identity formation changed This second category relates

m to the me dia- rela ted causes beh ind cu rrent idenf i ty t ransformat ions , includ ing

J mat ters of techno logy, form and context of communica t ion , as wel l as the roles of

J the ' new ' med ia .

iB a.

Technology

form and context of comm unication: Un d er s t an d i n g the interaction

b e t ween new m edia technologies, new genres of text and comm unica t ion , new

Py| political and econom ic s t ructures , and new social and psychological w ays of life


11/16

is one of the relevant issues here, particularly considering the changes in com mu-

nication technologies in relation to other social and cultural factors. In assessing

the proper role of ne w med ia, one m ust not disregard the historical process of

mediafisafion that the sociocultural wo rld of identity formafion is subject to. t must

here be studied h ow new media forms rem ediate older modes of communicafion,

replicating but also redefining them. This effort can benefit from the history of

previous m edia transitions that may shed Kght upo n the cu rrent situation, involv-

ing mutually contradictory and ambivalent processes of exploration, exploitation,

institutionalisation, disciplining and normalisation.

b. oles

o f

new media The way in wh ich conventional features of social interac-

tion

(e.g.

imm ediacy or ritual social events) limit or enhance identity formation in

social media environments should be explored. The ways in whidi the engage-

ment in new ICTs redefines identity by creating distinctions between non-users

and (different kin ds of) use rs is also of relevance. Furth erm ore, the trend tow ards

individualisafion in new media resources (techniques and genres) also affects iden-

fity formation. Both the brigh ter and the darker aspects of for instance the interne t

need

to be

acknowledged, neglecting neither

its

emancipatory nor

its

authoritarian

potentials - the former linked to resources for démocratisation and emp owerm ent,

the latter to new forms of surveillance and post-panoptical sousve illance as well

as to misogynist and xenophobic hate rs .

3 . What are the

consequences

of new modes of identity formation? This third cate-

gory of research quesfions concerns the consequences of new modes of idenfity

formafion as they affect the developm ent of transcultura l idenfities and the issue

of em powerment.

a. Transcultural iden tities W hether recent changes in cultural consumpfion and

media use have led to new forms of identity, e.g. changing the balance between

European, national and sub-nationa l idenfifications, is a possible area of invesfiga-

fion. This directly relates to the prospects, problem s and potenfials of transnafional

idenfities such as those linked to Europe, in a situafion of increasingly complex and

multi-levelled global media flows. It rema ins to be seen whethe r new social media

contribute to intercultural dialogue and the emergence of new contact

zones

where

diverse cultures

meet

as well as

to

what extent they shift or perpe tua te established

pow er structu res between different cultures and societies. The role of language and

translafion for the formafion of identity in ne w media environm ents, and the rise

of hybrid linguisfic systems due to the use of ne w media that further contribute

to the prolif erafion of more hybrid , fluid, transitory and de-territo rialised idenfifies

has also not been adequa tely researched. Current media transformafions affect the

ways in wh ich fictional idenfifies in arts, pop ula r culture and gam es interact with

peo ple s ow n identifications and social practices.

b. Empowerment

Media studies should get a better understandin g of issues re-

lated to empowerment, aimed at strengthening individual and collective cifizens

(and non-cifizens ) com municative righ ts and resources in relafion to state control

and the power of large corporafions to pre-structure and delimit the potenfials of

new med ia technologies. Here, regulation and responsibility need to be balanced

with rights and freedoms of expression, and democrafic movem ents as well as pub-

lic cultural institutions should find w ays to make even better use of the em erging

new media resources.


12/16

ngre ients

for a New Research genda

A new agenda for media studies needs to find workable instruments to support

research that takes these questions seriously. Ingredients to be taken into consid-

eration include the following, all of which are of relevance to the organisation of

research but in various ways also to the direction and content of research itself. In

three dimensions, there is a core need for interaction across traditional borders, to

be enhanced by organisational measures but also through new forms of compar-

ative research.

A.

Interdisciplinary

approaches It should first be noted that co-operafion between

humanities and social science scholars, as well as with technological expertise, is

already comparatively well developed in media studies, as this is a rather djmamic

and composite field of knowledge with shifting faculty locations in different coun-

tries and universities. In this area, social science approaches tend also to acknowl-

edge the role of media texts, while humanities approaches likewise tend to be also

interested in the social significance of the media genres they focus on. This mutual

interaction offers great opportimities for validating results at both sides. There is,

however, a need for more real comparative studies across (geographical, political

and social) space, time and media/genre - comparing mediated identity formations

in different European countries, between different historical periods and between

shifting media genres and modes of communication. This requires continued and

strengthened collaboration across disciplinary boundaries, both within different

branches of media studies and not least also with other disciplines and fields within

the humanities and the social sciences. This applies to languages, aesthetic and

historical disciplines as well as to sociology, anthropology, economics and political

science, but there is also a need to further develop interactions with technological

fields of research, so as to bridge the tendential gap between interpretive, critical

and technical knowledge-interests in the workings of new media.

International scholarly interaction Second, the comparative research mentioned

1^ above necessarily demands strong elements of transnational co-operation within

• J Europe but also on a global scale. The new media situation is not corifined within

national or continental borders, as European trends are intrinsically linked to how

3 states, media corporations and civil society actors contribute to identity formation

SL across the world. European institutions and traditions make it fruitful to develop

i l certain new modes of interaction and research within the overall European com-

p munity, but such initiatives should never be firmly closed off to participation from

fi the rest of the world, including not just the USA and other Western nations but

I also actors in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

j C. Dialogues between the academy and other

stakeholders

On such a platform, media

m studies should thirdly be able to identify innovative ways for various European

p actors to develop improved media policies for engaging with the current challenges

for mediatised identity formation. Media studies have a strong potential to link not

? only to commercial and policy stakeholders across key sectors in Europe, but also

IB to NGOs, artists and other actors in civil society. Media studies can contribute to

I analysing both dangers and opportvmities in the currently emerging mediascape,

Pyl by identifying its dark sides but also highlighting examples of good practices and


13/16

policies with potential to productively respond to the many economic, political

and ecological crises faced to day . Free and basic academ ic research organised ac-

cording to a bottom -up principle is the essential foundafion, bu t there shou ld also

be supplem entary resources for interaction with other stakeholders. On one han d,

empirically researched an d theory-based know ledge need s to be transferred from

universities to society at large; on the other h and , researchers can also leam from

other actors wh o are deeply involved in new m edia practices, in the cormnercial

sector or amon g m edia-saturated subcultures and m ovements of various kinds.

For these purposes, models may be devised to enhance interaction, not only by

matchm aking w orksho ps and dialogic conferences, but

also by

experimen ting with

m utually fruitful forms of postdoc intern ships or other positions linking academic

practice to various kinds of m edia insfitutions. The knowled ge ga thered thro ugh

such activifies an d dialogues may inspire new types of regulation an d organisation

of the media and thus support socially acceptable médiatisation processes. For

obvious reasons both media policies and media studies often tend to lag behind

im portan t sociocultural and technological m edia deve lopm ents, but efforts should

be m ade to increase the capacity for pro-acfive intervention. In order to meet ne w

challenges and ra pidly changing tre nd s in the media w orld, it m ight therefore be

helpful to invent new m ode s of rapid

research ,

wh ere smaller amo un ts of research

resources might be given to tight grou ps of scholars who p ropo se intense explor-

atory studies of contemporary pheno m ena, prep aring for the more long-term w ork

of ordinary research projects. There is at the same time a continued need for

slow

science , which involves large interdisciplinary and intemational research teams

and d evelops m ethod s, data and results over long periods of time, ma king it pos-

sible to better un ders tand complex processes that involve com parative studies of

transnational, longitudinal, intersectional or intermedial dim ensions.

Acknowledgements

This text incorporates ideas from the thematic wo rkshop on Idenfity Formafion:

From Facebook Netw orks to Institutional Form s of Cultural H eritage in Cypru s

17-18 May 2012, organised by the ESF Forw ard Look M edia S tudies: New Me-

dia and New Literacies . The autho rs are grateful to work shop participants for

valuable feedback: D r. Olga Gu edes B ailey, Professor Dan iel Biltereyst, Dr. Astrid

Ensslin, Professor H illevi Ganetz, Professor Ko stas Go uliamo s, Dr. Eva Hoog land ,

Dr. Gregor Pétrie, Dr. Pille Prullmann-V engerfeldt, Professor Ka tharine Sarikakis,

Professor Siiheyla Schroeder, Professor

lavko Splichal,

Professor Nada Svob-Dokic

and M s. Erika W idegren.

Notes:

1 . The terms front/back stage derive from G offman 1959), and have been wide ly debated in

recent discussion of med iated interaction on the internet.

2. The foll ow ing is based on Fornäs 2008).

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C o p y r i g h t o f J a v n o s t - T h e P u b l i c i s t h e p r o p e r t y o f E u r o p e a n I n s t i t u t e f o r C o m m u n i c a t i o n &

C u l t u r e ( E U R I C O M ) a n d i t s c o n t e n t m a y n o t b e c o p i e d o r e m a i l e d t o m u l t i p l e s i t e s o r p o s t e d

t o a l i s t s e r v w i t h o u t t h e c o p y r i g h t h o l d e r ' s e x p r e s s w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . H o w e v e r , u s e r s m a y

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johan fornas. charis xinaris_mediated identity formation

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