based on reading Foucault, what came first?

Foucault situates the idea of identity as a construction and function of current culture. As ideas of the body/mind duality have shifted, especially after Englightenment, ideas of identity have formed. When philosophers began locating the mind/soul/thinking center within the body, explanations of variation between people began to form, what we would consider personality. With ideas of modernism soundly rejecting ultimate Truth for truth within situations and cultures, environmental (nature) influences on the person’s character development began to be discussed. Darwin developed his ideas during this period. In literature, authors like Faulkner, Woolf and Hemingway began writing about the inner workings of character’s minds. Focusing on the idea of identity. Postmodernism reacted to modernism’s character development finding identity as a state of being, allowing for multiple identities depending on situation. Postmodernism is largely located Post WWII, and since we’re living the aftermath of postmodernism it’s hard to tell if we’re still postmodern, or if we’ve moved beyond (perhaps beyond labels). The idea here is wrapped up in identity, identity being influenced by current culture, and being postmodern, it varies across situations. This is most obvious with the increased usage of social spaces on the internet where a user can be, can electronically embody whomever they please. So, in a chicken versus egg type question, do we more readily accept the idea of multiple identities across cultural contexts because of the availability of play on the internet (meaning the internet heavily influenced postmodern ideas of identity even in the 1980’s when it was in its military form) or do we simply better understand and can identify identity play based on the space provided within the internet?

post-summer break post

i'm reading "everything bad is good for you" where the author explains the work an audience member puts in to follow modern television shows (even reality TV), the mental work and skill it takes to play video games, the mental work to learn new programs on a computer and on the web. essentially he's claiming that everything demonized by modern media sources as dumbing down americans, is actually making us work harder for our entertainment. what i found particularly poignant is a reference he makes to blogs as the proof that there is mental work outside of entertainment. johnson says "these diaries [meaning blogs] are, after all, frequently created by juveniles. But thirty years ago those juveniles weren't writing novels or composing sonnets in their spare time; they were watching Laverne & Shirley. Better to have minds actively composing the soap opera of their own lives than zoning out in front of someone else's." so as further proof of the increased amount of mental labor put into digesting entertainment, johnson points to blogs. even among younger generations, the amount of writing produced daily (he sites a study by yahoo that some 270000 blog entries are published every day) is astronomical. but, because it's in a medium that threatens the old medium (printing) mass public automatically fears it (lots of mcluhan here). so, in an effort to continue to increase the intelligence of american through mental work, cultural digestion, and increased text, here is my blog post.