Han’s example of a tourist in a Hawaiian shirt is not necessarily eager to experience a foreign culture, rather suggests that they have no existing cultural roots to identify another culture as a foreign one. If we just look at this class, it consists of people representing such vast cultural diversity. However, visually we all look similar as we all wear Western-inspired outfits. While it is not directly related to the climate or institutional environment, we all are conforming to an invisible expectation. Hyperculture is failing the possibility of heterogeneity. (90) [SN–3]
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Yes Jiya, the “Hawaiian shirt” metaphor also applies to situations involving temporality and the wearing of masks that don’t accurately reflect your genuine self. It’s interesting how Haas’ framing of the interaction between bodies and technology applies in this case, contrasting the appearance of what we experience on digital platforms with the realities of human circumstances and expectations.
Good synthesis! Jiyah, I am also thinking about how hyperculture might lead to a clash of cultures in a new era where cultures will generate a new hybridized cultures. I have realized that certain perceptions, habits, and cultural values have been challenged to make room for new ones.