Mediated Identity in the Emerging Digital Age A Dialogical Perspective:a Special Issue of identity

The several contributions in this issue illustrate the process of mediated dialogue in a digital age. The first article shows that culture and self-like society and identity-are conceived as mutually inclusive. The next paper shows how technology is able to create a new form of dialogue that is very personal and very public at the same time. The authors of the third paper are interested in the field of education in which they observe a dichotomy between individualistic and contextual concepts of learning. Next, Short Message Service-a rapidly growing medium of communication, particularly popular in circles of young people in Europe and increasingly in North America and elsewhere-is covered. The last two papers focus on television which is seen as a "social space" that offers a variety of possible self-images through audience discussion programs, its participants, and the disclosure of private stories and historical changes in the notion of space.

This book illustrates the process of mediated dialogue in a digital age. It shows that culture and self-like society and identity-are conceived as mutually inclusive and shows how technology is able to create a new form of dialogue that is very personal and very public at the same time.

Volume 4, Number 4, 2004 Contents: H.J.M. Hermans, Introduction: The Dialogical Self in a Global and Digital Age. V.W. Hevern, Threaded Identity in Cyberspace: Weblogs and Positioning in the Dialogical Self. M.B. Ligorio, A.C. Pugliese, Self-Positioning in a Text-Based Virtual Environment. M. Cortini, G. Mininni, A. Manuti, The Diatextual Construction of the Self in Short Message Systems. S. Annese, Mediated Identity in the Parasocial Interaction of TV. C. van Halen, J. Janssen, The Usage of Space in Dialogical Self-Construction: From Dante to Cyberspace.