Psychoanalysis and Digital Culture offers a comprehensive account of our
contemporary media environment--digital culture and audiences in
particular--by drawing on psychoanalysis and media studies frameworks.
It provides an introduction to the psychoanalytic affect theories of
Sigmund Freud and Didier Anzieu and applies them theoretically and
methodologically in a number of case studies. Johanssen argues that
digital media fundamentally shape our subjectivities on affective and
unconscious levels, and he critically analyses phenomena such as
television viewing, Twitter use, affective labour on social media, and
data-mining.
How does watching television involve the body? Why are we so drawn to
reality television?
Why do we share certain things on social media and not others? How are
bodies represented on social media?
How do big data and data mining influence our identities? Can
algorithms help us make better decisions?
These questions amongst others are addressed in the chapters of this
wide-ranging book. Johanssen shows in a number of case studies how a
psychoanalytic angle can bring new insights to audience studies and
digital media research more generally. From audience research with
viewers of the reality television show Embarrassing Bodies and how they
unconsciously used it to work through feelings about their own bodies,
to a critical engagement with Hardt and Negri's notion of affective
labour and how individuals with bodily differences used social media for
their own affective-digital labour, the book suggests that an
understanding of affect based on Freud and Anzieu is helpful when
thinking about media use. The monograph also discusses the perverse
implications of algorithms, big data and data mining for subjectivities.
In drawing on empirical data and examples throughout, Johanssen presents
a compelling analysis of our contemporary media environment.
