Abstract
In spite of recent interpretation according to which “selfing,” that is, taking “selfies” of oneself, realizes the transparency dream because it renders someone completely visible, the chapter argues that the “selfie” should be seen as an exemplary device for a subjectivation process which at the same time thwarts the aim of full subjectification. The storage, serialization and dissemination of the “selfies” point to a “selfing” project that takes place under conditions of sociality and sharedness. In this respect, the “selfie” is neither a diminished version of the “I,” nor an idealized type; neither merely self-referential, nor merely self-quantificational. Rather, it is a device of an ongoing “selfing” process, which opacifies a given identity all the while it pretends making it transparent.
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Metelmann, J., Telios, T. (2018). Putting Oneself Out There: The “Selfie” and the Alter-Rithmic Transformations of Subjectivity. In: Alloa, E., Thomä, D. (eds) Transparency, Society and Subjectivity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77161-8_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77161-8_16
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