Ethical (self-)constitution of the subject and the performance of identity on social networks

ABSTRACT: We presently observe the increasing affirmation of a conception of subjectivity in which the
way we perceive ourselves as subjects is forged in situated social practices often materiali!ed at the level of
discourse while always implying power relations" Such practices circumscribe an e#periential space within
which we become $accessible$ to ourselves and to others as subjects and objects of action %nowledge and
control" &owever far from being a neutral and static space which we inhabit and observe through objective
lenses it is rather a dynamic space which ta%es shape in the processes activities and relationships that
unfold in or by it" 'n a dual movement this space constitutes the subjects while simultaneously subjecting
those that are constituted by the practices" Based on such assumptions this paper discusses the partial results
of a study on the (self)*constitution of the subject in times when identity practices are increasingly being
enacted through social networ% profiles" We are interested in reflecting on how the ethics of existence as
outlined by +oucault in his later wor%s finds a possible performance locus on such networ%s" We investigate
how the regular practice of updating and (re)*visiting profiles constitutes a form of criticism,-uestioning of
previously established codes and regulations and how it would be constituted as a wor% of an ethical nature"
'n particular we propose thin%ing of such discursively materiali!ed practices as a form of dislocating the
social historical and cultural conditions that determine what can,should be said about whatever is being said
in a given environment and conte#t" +or this analysis we use +oucault.s wor% on ethics and subjectivity as a
theoretical framewor%" Still little studied in its relations with +rench /iscourse Analysis in the tradition of
0ichel 12cheu# the period %nown as the late +oucault points to a wide field of investigations" Thus we
initially propose a brief outline of the main issues addressed by the +rench philosopher in that period in
order then to proceed to a preliminary discussion of a corpus consisting of posts and comments published on
the +aceboo% page of a renowned Bra!ilian intellectual in mid)3453"
678 W9R/S: self)constitution of the subject: performance of identity: ethics of e#istence: social networ%s
R7+7R7;C7S:
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