Psychoanalysis in times of technoculture: Some reflections on the fate of the body in virtual space†

TLDR: In this article, a psychoanalytic lens is used to focus on how technology can interact for better or for worse with particular psychic economies in the context of cyber-culture.

Abstract: This article discusses psychoanalysis in times of technoculture. We cannot escape that this generation is growing up in a network culture where communication is mediated and digital connectivity along with different strands of virtuality are now an integral part of our quotidian practices. Global networks impact on identity formation: groups of individuals now organize and validate their experience as a community virtually. Cyberspace is not a homogenous space. We need to consider the contingent relations that exist between this space and what it affords in terms of representation and interaction. And as we do so we need to keep firmly in mind that what transcends the online and offline spaces is the individual. In thinking about the world of cyberspace as a potential space for experimentation that may facilitate psychic elaboration we need to consider not whether this is right or wrong, good or bad, but whether psychically the individual can cope with what is being presented or enacted within a given virtual space. This is why generalities are of limited value. This is why we need a psychoanalytic lens to focus on how technology can interact for better or for worse with particular psychic economies.