by A.M. Kent

Executive Summary

This case study looked at research surrounding cyberspace as an example of Marc Auge’s non-place, and how it could also be interpreted differently through different perspectives. The key research and recommendations in this field are from (Bolter & Grusin, 2000; Carroll, 2017; Walmsley, 2010). However, research on cyberspace as a non-place specifically was somewhat sparse, it was concluded that cyberspace is an interesting example of a non-place, that also fit well into Jean Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality and the simulacra. This was most notably discussed regarding researcher Mark Nunes and cyberspace as a place of hypertelia (Nunes, 1995). Further research that opposed the idea of cyberspace as a non-place used examples of its ability t break geographical boundaries of communication, strengthening social relations.

Introduction

French anthropologist Marc Auge coined the phrase ‘non-place’ in 1992 when discussing the impact of a new era of super modernity (a period where there is an excess of consumption within society, along with a defragmentation of memory and overabundance of space). Auge categorized a non-place as an increasingly globalized, standardized and overall generic mass production of spatiality. Such non-places influence the fabric of our conscious awareness argued Auge, pacifying the psyche of the inhabitant of these non-places into an automatic consumption and mobility through them (Auge, 1995). Auge contrasted the idea of a non-place, which had no real history, identity, or propensity to let the inhabitant develop social bonds to what he coined anthropological places. The latter are defined by their allowance of socialisation, the rich history they can provide, and how they allow the individual to no longer be an observer such as in non-places, but an active participant (Merriman, 2009; Auge, 2002). This case study will focus on the notion of non-places, primarily using cyberspace as its point of contention. Key theorists such as Bolter and Grusin, who brought the idea of cyberspace’s inception into the ideology of non-place will be discussed, along with those who have evolved their work further. Both Bolter and Grusin argued in their work ‘Remediation: understanding New Media’ that cyberspace possesses the hallmarks of Auge’s concept of non-place, that it does not exist as a parallel to physical reality only serving as escapism, but rather it functions as a perfect example of a non-place (Bolter & Grusin, 2000).

Context and Wider Literature

Marc Auge discussed non-places as a by-product of the era of super modernity, a time that flourished within excess. Cyberspace and the dawn of instantaneous communication, consumption, virtual mobility, and a new type of geography that exists outside of what Auge would call anthropological place. This virtual space transforms and redirects the traditional notions of locales, living within the inception of super modernity as an excess of information and accessibility to global homogeneity. Cyberspace is both a place that is placeless and spaceless, existing as something the user moves through as an observer (Batty, 1993; Kitchin & Dodge, 2015). A key difference from anthropological place that non-places possess are those of excessive instructions, from airports requiring you to follow signs and present documents when told. This can also be seen in cyberspace, as you are consistently asked to enter information, click through various transitionary screens to complete an order, or move to the page you want. Researcher Richard Coyne argues that non-places can be defined as without requiring real thought to exist within. Additionally, Coyne posits that virtual reality spaces fall into this category, as they only simulate real places to become immersive. This references back to Jean Baudrillard’s theory of hyper reality and simulacra’s, an idea that places are becoming echoes of what was once original, the distinction between the simulated and reality (Coyne, 2007; Wolny, 2017).

Baudrillard’s theories are often linked with cyberspace, with it being discussed that cyberspace looks to create a hyperreality out of the real, with some concerns of the internet potentially reaching what Baudrillard called ‘hypertelia’. This phrase was constructed to describe the potential time in when cyberspace would be able to mimic reality to such a sophisticated degree that it transcends hyperreality and becomes more real than reality or anthropological place (Nunes, 1995). Whilst author Mark Nunes discussed the potential implications of cyberspace as an increasingly spreading mode of non-place, more modern research would argue the opposite. A book published in 2022 discussing Baudrillard and the geography of cyberspace brings to attention the growing importance of communication that cyberspaces provide. Whilst the author agrees that the internet is nearing a state of hypertelia, with the introduction of social media and necessity for even everyday tasks to be digitalized. It is argued that this reshapes hyperreality both culturally and socially. Reality and hyperreality are said to coexist, as the virtual is merely another dimension layered upon the anthropological place as a new means of extra communication. Cyberspace can be seen as an essential part of everyday life, a necessity like ideas of the cyborg discussed by Donna Haraway in her book ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’. In as such, it differs from non-place as it can both be moved through with thought and social relations and without it (Barroso, 2022; Haraway, 1985).

Siobhan Carroll in her book ‘Atopia’ discusses the definition of non-place as an area which does not pose any threats to human identity. Carrol disagrees with Auge and the notion that non-place provides barriers to fundamental human experience such as social bonds. Instead, it is argued that non-place such as cyberspace allows for those who feel exiled or marginalised from society and natural/ anthropological places to which Carrol refers to them as ‘Atopias’ to participate more freely. Whilst more traditional ideas of non-place such as shopping malls or airports are not often associated with a creation or expression of personal identity. Cyberspace is the opposite, as it allows the inhabitant of its virtual space to express themselves and discover key facets to their identity through the global interconnected space that it provides (Carroll, 2017). Contrastingly, Auge defined non-places as only functional when mobility is involved, an example of this would be if the staff no longer worked at the airport for the day, all meaning to inhabit that space would cease to exist (Augé, 2019). Additionally, non-places according to Ague force the inhabitant into a contractual solitary state, and it has been argued that cyberspace, more specifically video games do the same and serve as poignant examples of non-place.

Certain video games will have the inhabitant move through either linear or open world cyberspaces in near silence, with minimal interaction to other players, civilian characters, or at any point encourage the player to engage in the potential inspired history of its virtual surroundings. It is a place of anonymity that one can engage in purely solitarily, with the book ‘Ludotopia’ using the example of the game ‘Far cry 2’ , in which the player is tasked in moving through large virtual terrains with minimal interaction, where the game offers no necessity for the player to attempt to explore the culture or history that could be embedded within the game (Aarseth & Gunzel, 2019). Finally, it has been posited that virtual space is an ideal example of non-place, and that it has even made our homes non-places. The internet is now utilized within almost every room and seen as a necessity in modern society, this draws back to Auge’s idea of non-place being a public space of consumption. Now every room can be said to centre around cyberspace, bringing it into a public area rather than a private one. Once we engage in cyberspace the real space we inhabit ceases to exist, it becomes a non-place of its own as we are drawn into the virtual (Rojo, 2018).

Discussion and Analysis

Cyberspace as the primary example of a non-place has had some interesting and contrasting research surrounding it. What started with Bolter and Grusin has evolved through many other theorists, however they keep similar themes and even observations of cyberspace as both a place of the virtual and a non-place. Bolter and Grusin discuss the idea of playable cyberspaces such as games, and how these places offer a reality layered upon our own. They discuss how these virtual worlds are a divorce from a physical reality yet offer a hyperreal alternative, allowing the inhabitant of its virtual space to move through. Similarly, this was also seen in the book Ludotopia, when discussing how games work as non-places by offering no real history, only a simulated one, and allowing the player to move through their worlds without social interaction (Bolter & Grusin, 2000; Aarseth & Gunzel, 2019). This was an expected comparison to be drawn when using cyberspace as a case study, due to a simulated reality being incapable of offering real history, further cementing itself in the concept of non-place.

An observation can also be made towards the similarities that two different examples of non-place can hold, one a physical representation such as a shopping mall, the other a virtual one. The first similarity present is that both the shopping mall and cyberspace can be moved through with a degree of anonymity. Whilst neither are entirely private, as shopping malls require personal details such as bank cards to complete transactions, or to sign up to a company for additional discounts. Additionally, there is a conversation about the privacy we truly have when accessing online, as our movements throughout cyberspace are tracked by cookies and data algorithms that predict our habits to advertise consumer goods upon us. Another comparison can be made by analysing the ownership of both non-places, as the internet is government owned and assessed in many ways, although having no true ownership. The same as a shopping mall is owned by a company that in many cases is in some way owned governmentally, be it the land it inhabits or the taxes it owes. Finally, it can be argued that cyberspace does not require the user to formulate an identity when using it, nor does it encourage the creation of new idiosyncrasies to a personal identity, the same as a shopping mall (Shields, 1989; Oever, 2021; Wójtowicz & Cellary, 2018).

All forms of non-place according to Auge stem from globalisation, the internet is no exception to this as it can be viewed as the dawn of a more efficient and easily accessed global homogeneity (Spielberg, 2000). Whilst many of the theorists discussed throughout this case study have sided with cyberspace acting as an archetypal non-place, it can be analysed on the contrary. A key aspect to non-place is its lack of social bonds, however, cyberspace has drastically changed the face of communication and its transnational possibilities in the relatively short time it has emerged into modern society. Cyberspace bridges gaps between large distances and because of this it can be argued that it allows for the user to inherit and understand culture from those across the world. This goes against another aspect on the theory of non-place, that identity is of no meaning to the inhabitant inside of them. Whilst the internet allows multicultural communication that can lead to a creation of a new culture entirely, an internet culture, and in as such a new aspect of one’s identity. This would mean a negation of non-place, showing that even a place that many researchers considered an ideal showcase of the theory can be interpreted differently with changing contexts (Haerul, et al., 2021; Walmsley, 2010).

It is important to note the counter arguments to this, as although it can be said that cyberspace has bridged distance gaps in communication between its users. It can also be posited that it does not provide the same sense of communication that physical or local communities can provide, it is a virtual communication and in as such can be seen as a partially removed, vicarious form of socialisation (Walmsley, 2010). Furthermore, cyberspace, although virtual, still exists on a physical level, as it requires a device of some kind to access it. It must exist within the physical which means that it can be seen only as a simulated place and space, meaning that although some may view it as a true form of non-place others may view the physical space it is accessed in as more important (Mouatasim, 2020). Finally, the rate of technological updates and changes are so fast that it is impossible to consider cyberspace as a place that owns any true history. The past in cyberspace is erased so that new and more efficient modes of browsing can be implemented, older technologies and devices become obsolete as they are unable to run newer games, or their components are outsourced and discontinued for newer technologies. Additionally, while communication has certainly increased through social media outlets, it can also be said that it has been cut down in complexity and in many cases, microblogging as an act of making a status update that all can see rather than a specific message is often utilized. This undermines the whole merit behind personal social bonds, as people use sites like Twitter and Facebook to blog their daily activities rather than specifically speak about their everyday life to one person (Plotkin, 2020).  

Conclusions and Recommendations

Throughout this case study there have been many arguments for cyberspace and the idea of non-place being usefully considered for social relations. These points have focused on the solitary state that the user usually uses cyberspace in, especially when engaging in video games that are not multiplayer. There have also been arguments against it, such as researchers highlighting the immense reach that cyberspace allows for the individual, and how this bridging of physical geographical gaps can aid social relations and communication. The findings although varied offer a nuanced look at cyberspace as a virtual place, and whether it qualifies as what Auge would coin a non-place is still unclear. Uncertainty was a main theme of the research and texts analysed for this case study, as there is a lot of research on the topic of cyberspace but less so on the topic of non-place and how it could relate to cyberspace. This is an area that could be more focused upon, as cyberspace makes for a poignant and fruitful subject of research regarding this theory. It ties well into Baudrillard and the theory of hyper reality, along with sociological research on the everyday. As it is now a utilised part of everyday life, as social media and general internet access has become a necessity for most tasks and forms of communication. The term non-place still leaves a lot to be desired, as what could be defined as a non-place, in this case studies example ‘cyberspace’, can just as easily been as the opposite. This seems to be a problem with the theory in general, as almost all non-places can just as easily be seen as places of social relations, it is reliant upon the context of the individual who inhabits them, as we are not all the same and neither is our phenomenology.

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