Authenticity

Realistic Representation

Questions of authenticity arise when cultures meet in our contemporary global village. Intercultural interactions with difference mediated through mass media may provide inauthentic representations of cultures by other cultures that lack knowledge and understanding of complex negotiations of tradition meeting existential demands. For example, the representations of Native Americans by many 20th-century Hollywood films often provided inauthentic representations of Native American tribes, languages, and traditions. With greater cultural sensitivity and research, such as ethnographic studies of Native American peoples and preservation of tribal languages, intercultural interactions may author more authentic representations. Perspective toward interpretation of our perceptions greatly influences what we accept as authentic.

In more recent discussions, authenticity has taken on a related meaning when addressing the information age. How can we come to trust that a photograph or news report is telling the truth from its perspective and is not being manipulated to distort the interpretations of its audience for undisclosed motives? The perception and confirmation of authentic existence call forth the discernment of the quality and values enacted by this document being real. The Internet serves as a paradigmatic example of the changing and interrelated notions of authenticity of being and truth. The Internet does not possess any physical characteristics and is not materially grounded by location, the qualities we attach to what exists. However, with the advent of satellite communication and digital technologies, we can communicate through virtual means whereby a person may create an online identity that differs from his or her physical being. We see a dangerous manifestation of this with the increase in cases of child luring through the Internet.

...