Overview
- The first comprehensive volume on the current and publicly debated topic of selfies
- Offers approaches from a broader field of disciplines
- Provides a theoretical as well as a media-historical basis for investigating the selfie as an image practice
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About this book
This volume explores the selfie not only as a specific photographic practice that is deeply rooted in digital culture, but also how it is understood in relation to other media of self-portrayal. Unlike the public debate about the dangers of 'selfie-narcissism', this anthology discusses what the practice of taking and sharing selfies can tell us about media culture today: can the selfie be critiqued as an image or rather as a social practice? What are the technological conditions of this form of vernacular photography? By gathering articles from the fields of media studies; art history; cultural studies; visual studies; philosophy; sociology and ethnography, this book provides a media archaeological perspective that highlights the relevance of the selfie as a stereotypical as well as creative practice of dealing with ourselves in relation to technology.
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Keywords
Table of contents (16 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Selfie in Media Theory and History
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Front Matter
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The Displayed Self: The Selfie as Aesthetic Object and Networked Image
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Front Matter
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The Self on Display: Technology and Dispositif of the Selfie
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Front Matter
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Displaying the Self: Social, Political, and Creative Interventions
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Front Matter
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Reviews
“The chapters in this volume clearly point out that exploring selfies and selfie culture requires an interdisciplinary approach. The book therefore gathers contributions from the fields of Media Studies, Art History, Cultural Studies, Visual Studies, Philosophy, Sociology, and Ethnography, providing an overview of the different positions between the two main approaches of selfie research … and attempts to reconcile them.” (Scriptable, rtreview.org, Issue 28, August, 2018) “This is a highly nuanced and balanced offering of high quality scholarship on "selfie" theory and history, the selfie as an aesthetic object and networked image, its technology and dispositif, and its socio-political and creative interventions.” (Athina Karatzogianni, University of Leicester, UK)
“Exploring the Selfie” provides a substantial, multifaceted, interdisciplinary perspective on digital self-photography. The selfie is a photographic and cultural phenomenon in an age where the practices of photography are affected strongly by mobile and online communication and many of the popular social media platforms are based on visual communication. The volume assembles a wonderfully rich and many-sided “image” of the selfie as part of contemporary visual culture – that also has a history.” (Mikko Villi, University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Julia Eckel is Research and Teaching Associate at the Institute of Media Studies at Philipps-University Marburg, Germany.
Jens Ruchatz is Professor of audiovisual transfer processes at the Institute of Media Studies at Philipps-University Marburg, Germany.
Sabine Wirth is Research and Teaching Associate at the Institute of Media Studies at Philipps-University Marburg, Germany.
Jens Ruchatz is Professor of audiovisual transfer processes at the Institute of Media Studies at Philipps-University Marburg, Germany.
Sabine Wirth is Research and Teaching Associate at the Institute of Media Studies at Philipps-University Marburg, Germany.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Exploring the Selfie
Book Subtitle: Historical, Theoretical, and Analytical Approaches to Digital Self-Photography
Editors: Julia Eckel, Jens Ruchatz, Sabine Wirth
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57949-8
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-57948-1Published: 19 April 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-09626-7Published: 01 February 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-57949-8Published: 06 April 2018
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXI, 392
Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations, 40 illustrations in colour
Topics: Media and Communication, Social Media, Photography, Cultural Theory