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Paper short abstract

In my paper, I claim that with the advent of AI-generated visual content, another principle could be added to Foucault’s “heterotopology”, vis-à-vis virtual heterotopias: (ϗ) A virtual heterotopia has at least one nucleus that functions as the generator of its (a) existence and (b) Otherness.

Paper long abstract

Virtual heterotopias have a series of particularities that individualize them and at the same time place them beyond the perspectives exposed by Michel Foucault, Kit Hetherington, James D. Faubion, Henri Lefebvre, Michiel Dehaene and Lieven De Cauter. They are juxtapositions of multiple meanings. With the advent of AI-generated images, the contextual construction of space and time in virtual worlds has changed considerably. In video games, players co-create the meanings encapsulated by the game developers and synthesized with AI. Most virtual heterotopias are currently found in video games. A significant proportion of these are “role-playing games”, “adventure games”, “action games” or combinations thereof. Drawing upon anthropological research, I claim that with the advent of AI-generated visual content ,another principle could be added to Foucault’s “heterotopology”, when attempting to describe virtual heterotopias: (ϗ) A virtual heterotopia has at least one nucleus that functions as the generator of its (a) existence and (b) Otherness. In my paper, I begin by assessing several theoretical approaches to heterotopias. I continue by examining the political content from games that include virtual heterotopias. I delve into their relevance as examples of political messages that were launched in the last years (e.g. Cyberpunk 2077, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II etc.). Afterwards, I describe the principle (ϗ) using examples from my research. I argue that this principle may have applications in the case of the real-world heterotopias, since they tend to have a political dimension. My excursus is based on participative observation, interviews and other data collection techniques.