ABSTRACT

The virtual world Second Life invites residents to plan, build and maintain their own social geographies. In this article, I draw on data gathered during a multi-year ethnographic study to explore the intersection between memory, nostalgia, place and belonging in Second Life. The article focuses on two packages of land, or ‘sims’, owned and designed by a single Second Life resident who is one of the most dedicated heritage creators. The 1920s Berlin Project and Time Portal are both popular sims in which physical, historical, locations are recreated and opened to the public to visit, rent commercial or domestic property and engage in the 1920s role play. These sims demand different types of historical engagement. Together, they offer a complex and nuanced portrait of the way Second Life recreates cities of the past.

摘要

虚拟世界Second Life邀请居民规划，建立和维护自己的社会地理区域。在本文中，我将利用一项为期多年的人种志研究而收集的数据，以探索“第二人生”中的记忆，怀旧，地点和归属感之间的交集。本文重点介绍由一位第二人生的居民拥有和设计的两套土地或“模拟人生”，他是最热衷的遗产创造者之一。1920年代的柏林项目和时间门户都是流行的模拟市民，在其中重新创建了实体，历史和地理位置，并向公众开放以供参观，租用商业或家庭财产并参与1920年代的角色扮演。这些模拟人生需要不同类型的历史参与。他们共同提供了第二人生重塑过去城市的方式的复杂而细微的描述。