Beyond identity embodiment: Relocating avatars and avataring in contemporary digital media

Abstract

Avatar related research often assumes a unilateral theory of avatar embodiment as identity projection and while these theories are contested by critical research, such criticism is often limited by an epistemological reliance on experiential user subjectivities. This limitation is particularly troubling as avatars are seeing increasing usage as representatives of human and non-human agents (e.g. generative AI). To respond, this article scrutinises the extent to which avatars project user identity, applying multimodal semiotic analysis to four music studies situated cases where avatars undermine human identity and creative labour. It proposes a de-nominalisation of the term avatar, and offers the infinitive verb, to avatar, as a conceptual blueprint that foregrounds the processual understandings and non-human mediations that challenge theories of user identity embodiment. By re-locating avataring as a translative process, future research may more deeply probe the negotiations, compromises and mediations made by avatars and connect to other pre-digital, cultural and embodying artefacts.