Digital Expressions of the Self(ie)
The Social Life of Selfies in India
Avishek Ray, Ethiraj Gabriel Dattatreyan, Usha Raman, Martin Web, Neha Gupta, Sai Amulya Komarraju, Anuja Premika, Riad Azam, Farhat Salim & Pranavesh Subramanian
Digital Expressions of the Self(ie)
The Social Life of Selfies in India
Avishek Ray, Ethiraj Gabriel Dattatreyan, Usha Raman, Martin Web, Neha Gupta, Sai Amulya Komarraju, Anuja Premika, Riad Azam, Farhat Salim & Pranavesh Subramanian
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Description
The book examines the social and cultural role of selfies in India and its diaspora.
“Selfies have been subjected to scholarly scrutiny over the past decade. But this collection of essays on ‘the social life of selfies in India’ brings a refreshing and important localized take on the tactility, temporality, and technique of the selfie. Contributors draw from a variety of disciplines including Sociology, Fan Studies, Urban Studies, and Media Studies to interrogate the evolutionary role of selfies among various grassroots groups in one of the most populous countries globally. Considering established social media like Instagram, newer social media like TikTok, and messaging apps like WhatsApp, the collection unravels how selfies are constructed and deployed by identity groups including young men and domestic labourers, and interest groups including tourists, fans, and avid readers. Collectively, these emotive stories question the socio-cultural impacts of selfies as product and praxis, and their enduring ability to shape human understanding one snap at a time.”
Crystal Abidin, Digital Anthropologist; Co-editor of Mediated Interfaces: The Body on Social Media
“This book is a nuanced addition to the growing body of research on digital affects and expressions. The selfie is approached as an operative, allusive, and purposive cultural artefact in this volume of grounded and enthralling essays. From teasing out contexts of selfie production and circulation, deeming a selfie consumer worthy and stitching selfies as aesthetic practices to produce ‘affect’ are some of the incisive propositions in the volume. Selfies as a framing device to depict not only the idiosyncratic personality or singular political engagements but also the prosaic routines of humdrum living are other rewarding elements in this glittering collection.”
Nimmi Rangaswamy, Professor, Kohli Centre for Intelligent Systems, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad
Avishek Ray is an Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies at the National Institute of Technology Silchar.
Ethiraj Gabriel Dattatreyan is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at NYU.
Usha Raman is a Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Hyderabad, India.
Martin Webb is a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Goldsmiths.
Neha Gupta is a postdoctoral researcher at TISS Mumbai.
Sai Amulya Komarraju is Assistant Professor in the Communications area at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India.
Anuja Premika is a PhD research scholar at the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, India.
Riad Azam works as a Counseling Manager at Athena Education.
Farhat Salim works as Community Engagement Manager at Doctors Without Borders/ Medecins Sans Frontier India.
Pranavesh Subramanian is a writer, comedian and filmmaker based in Delhi.