The Avatar with a Thousand Faces: The Social Functions of Dreamscape Mythology

The study of mythology and its impact on individuals and societies, popularized by Joseph Campbell and his incredibly prolific works, has become one of the most accessible elements of anthropology and sociology in recent years. Because of my fascination with and admiration for his work, and my almost equal fascination with and attraction to virtual realities on the internet, I have naturally come to consider the impact that an evolving mythology may have on the Dreamscape and its citizenry.

The following exploration of this topic sketches a basic definition of mythology, outlines Campbell's mythological purposes and theorizes their applicability (or lack thereof) to virtual realities in general and the Dreamscape in particular.

Definition of Myth

A myth is a story that uses symbolic language and images to portray a significant event. Myths are not necessarily fiction, though they are often fictionalized. They may be stories designed to explain significant universal events (the creation of the world, for example) or simply a stories about the deeds of prominant figures in a society's history (the legends of Herakles).

"The Dreamscape has a rich underlying mythology, adhered to and expanded upon by the Oracles and kept alive through an enthusiastic storytelling tradition. In addition to the mythological structure built into the frame of the Dreamscape by its architects, legends and myths indigenous to the virtual community have emerged to define a transcultural tradition." (LeValley, 1997)

Myths need not be formally designated as such. Some events or personages are recognized as legendary at the time of their occurance (the return of Khai Joybringer comes to mind). Those stories, as they are repeated and transmitted to new generations of avatars, also become part of Dreamscape mythology. Thus, discussion of mythology in the Dreamscape includes designer-generated stories such as the cult of Morpheus and the Caribe castaways, and also indigenous myths such as the exploits of Headhunter Chieftain. But does this mythology serve any purpose, beyond entertainment or a foundation for in-world rituals?

Function of Myth

In a very general sense, Campbell believed that mythology serves as a guidepost for societal rules and roles. By learning a mythology and incorporating it into one's identity, the individual learns the roles society expects him to fill and the generally accepted cultural perspective. If the society's myths are not transmitted from generation to generation, or if the myths that are transmitted lose relevance for the society, the members of that group becom disjointed, unable to find and fill acceptable roles.

In "The Emergence of Mankind" (1966), Campbell outlined what he viewed as the three main functions of mythology:
· Knowledge and understanding of mortality
· Enforcement of an enduring social order.
· Interpretation and understanding of the universe
Some are obviously less applicable in virtual realities. For instance, the study of mortality is inapplicable in a purely fictional reality that has no equivalent to birth and death. And unless one has a severe disfunction in WW life, virtual reality can do little to unite one with the nature of the universe and the cosmic order of existance. If anything it is more likely to pull you away for a brief span of time, as a form of escape or relaxation. Of more interest to this author are the development of community focus through a cultural tradition, and the mythological illustration of the social order.

Community Focus

New entrants to the Dreamscape often comment that they feel isolated from and ignored by the other avatars around them. One often hears the phrase "graphical chat zone" from these avatars, a phrase which is an instant cry to arms for the more long-term, community oriented resident. There is no sense of community or history for these avatars, they have simply walked into a new world and without any idea of the expected roles or the norms of behavior. No wonder they feel isolated!

The presence and knowledge of a detailed back story may help these newbies understand and identify with their virtual surroundings. Some myths of more universal archetypes such as the "creation of the Dreamscape" were built into the world history by the designers. These stories present a history of the Dreamscape and its culture, and can provide this back story. Dreamscape mythology may even have the benefit of defining a community feeling among newer avatars, and perhaps even generate interest in community involvement where none previously existed. Myths by themselves are not likely to redirect the individual avatar's focus, but reading these "histories" may help avatars develop the sense of belonging and community promoted by long-time residents of the Dreamscape, and will certainly help the new avatar become accustomed to the social order around them.

Illustration of the Social Order

In our waking reality, each individual is born into a relatively unchanging social order to which they must adapt. The various waking world cultural mythologies help people adapt to that reality. In Dreamscape terms, our mythologies also help us define our constantly evolving social order. The stories we transmit to successive generations of "newbies" demonstrate our standards of exemplary and unacceptable behaviour.

Of course, most participants in any virtual reality are far more likely to bring their own social mores and behaviors to the playground than to adopt something completely alien. But several alternate roles and behaviors are also brought in-world. They range from simple experimentation with roles that exist in that person's waking reality to emulation of favorite archetypes or personalities from entertainment or history. They may even represent a desire to remold one's waking world personality in a certain image. Through the stories we adopt as mythology in the Dreamscape, we outline acceptable boundaries for those behaviors and experiments, and the likely consequences for stepping outside those boundaries. This respresents a possible avenue of "community-negotiated social solutions" preferred by our Oracles as a method of resolving socially deviant behavior (LeValley, 1997, p. 19). Of course, this solution has the distinct disadvantage of operating largely in retrospect, but circulation of these stories may function as an effective deterrant to some who are considering the less acceptable roles.

Conclusion

Knowledge of our myths and history can help new avatars get a "feel" for the Dreamscape, learn general boundaries for exemplary and unacceptable behavior, and may even impart a sense of community.

For this to happen, however, the myths must be easily accessable to all citizens of the Dreamscape and somehow prominent in-world. The existance of archived and unmentioned files in one library on one on-line service does not fill this need. Especially with the recent advent of web-based access, it is possible for an avatar to join the Dreamscape and participate for several months without any knowledge of Dreamscape history. I am not suggesting that this knowledge should be mandatory, merely that it should be easily accesible to the entire audience. The efforts of some avatars recently to collect and preserve histories of events in Kymer is one step in that direction. Another possibility that comes to mind is the existance of objects in the Visitor's Center or the Temple with URL tags that lead to Kymer myths and stories, at least those created by the world's designers.

More than a group of unconnected fictional stories or a collection of forum threads, Dreamscape mythology is a living, evolving history of our virtual world. These myths breathe life into our virtual community, and should be embraced and encouraged to grow with us. After all, a world with a history is far more "real" to the participant that one that simply exists to generate a charge on your credit card.

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