Between Virtual Reality and the Real: Cyber Subjectivity and Ideology Critique

Abstract

In 2006 Time magazine chose a surprising figure as its “Person of the Year”: You. The subtitle on the cover read: “Yes, you. You control the information age. Welcome to your world.” The question for this paper is, who is this “You”? And who is the “I” being referred to? What is online subjectivity and intersubjectivity? This analysis is carried out using Lacan’s theoretical framework as well as Zizek’s interpretation of it. Online subjectivity is analyzed in (Lacanian) terms of the Real, the Symbolic, and the Imaginary, and considers how concepts such as the Big Other, the object of desire, and others, illustrate its key structures. The paper then examines the place of this analysis within the context of ideology critique and point towards some political consequences of this emerging form of subjectivity.