网络空间的重构:数字“空间”的活力“地方”?

Reconceptualizing Cyberspace:Vital places in Digital Space?

为探索网络空间的本质,为解除长久以来萦绕空间、地方、网络空间三概念的理性谜团,从而在信息时代建设新型活力社会,笔者提出了一种理解三者相互关系的新型四维理论模型。从认识论意义上讲,空间与地方是具有不同内涵的独立概念,但它们也在实践意义和经验意义上相互缠绕,原因即在于它们在社会生活中具有相辅相成、相互补充的作用。基于以上观点,笔者从四个维度分析了空间与地方的本质及相互关系:在形塑、结构和情境维度上,空间与地方必然相互独立,而在经验维度上,二者则不可避免地在人类存在中相互缠绕。在此基础上,笔者应用该模型重构了网络空间,认为网络空间并非仅仅只是一种"空间",相反,它是熟悉的活力"地方"在电子环境中的空间性隐喻,并已经成为人们日常生活中不可或缺的一部分。

The author explores the nature of cyberspace and shed light on the intellectual puzzles of space, place and cyberspace by briefly reviewing previous discussions of space and place and presenting a simple framework that clarifies the relationships among these three concepts. We argue that, epistemologically, space and place are independent concepts imbued with different connotations. However, space and place are intertwined both prac- tically and experientially because they constitute mutually complementary roles and functions in social life. Based on this argument, we develop a four-dimensional framework for distinguishing between space and place and apply it in a reconceptualization of cyberspace. The author reject the no- tion that cyberspace is simply a ＂space＂ and argue, instead, that cyberspace is a spatial metaphor applied to the familiar places of the digital environ- ment that have become, for many, such an essential part of everyday life.