Pepe - 3 views
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With the growing permeation of online social networks in our everyday life, scholars have become interested in the study of novel forms of identity construction, performance, spectatorship and self–presentation onto the networked medium.
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Though the novel’s story transpires in a pre–digital age, the volatile play of identity that ultimately destabilizes Moscarda has only increased since the advent of online social networks.
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How would Moscarda’s tragedy play out in the inherently networked world of today? This article hopes to shed light on contemporary dilemmas of identity constructivism and self–representation while simultaneously re–evaluating one of the most celebrated works of one of Italy’s profoundest thinkers on identity and personhood.
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Uno, Nessuno, Centomila (One, No One and One Hundred Thousand) is a classic novel by Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello. Published in 1925, it recounts the tragedy of Vitangelo Moscarda, a man who struggles to reclaim a coherent and unitary identity for himself in the face of an inherently social and multi-faceted world. What would Moscarda identity tragedy look like today? In this article we transplant Moscarda's identity play from its offline setting to the contemporary arena of social media and online social networks. With reference to established theories on identity construction, performance, and self-presentation, we re-imagine how Moscarda would go about defending the integrity of his selfhood in the face of the discountenancing influences of the online world.
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Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author provides another interesting facet to this discussion. In the play, a family of characters arrive at a rehearsal-in-progress, begging for the producer, playwright, and other actors to write down and perform the family's story. The family members do not exist outside of their interactions with the rest of the family; the characters themselves cannot exist without the acknowledgement and assistance of the artists; and, despite traditional lines between real life and fiction, every family member character and "real-life" character is altered by the interaction. How much are our identities--as we experience them--dependent on others for validation? Are we performing our lives for others? At what point do we (can we) draw boundaries between spectator and performer, especially in relation to identity creation?