Im(matter)ial Bodies: A Material and Affective Rethinking of Selfies for Digital Literacy Resources

Authors

  • Katie Warfield Kwantlen Polytechnic University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29410

Abstract

This paper conducts a critical discourse analysis of a recent Canadian adolescent digital literacy resource to show that selfies are treated primarily as discursive objects. This paper suggests that by rethinking selfies as both discursive and important material and affective entanglements—a frequent proposal in recent scholarship on this phenomenon—and by redesigning learning resources accordingly, teachers could encourage students to think in a material, affective, embodied, and more complex way about the experiences of sharing images of bodies online.

Author Biography

Katie Warfield, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Katie Warfield is faculty in the Department of Journalism and Communication at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and Director of the Visual Media Workshop. Her recent writings have appeared in Social Media + Society, Feminist Media StudiesLanguage and Literacy, and Feminist Issues, 6thed.by Pearson Education.  She teaches classes in communication theory, popular culture, discourse theory, media and diversity, and social media.  Her research is located at the intersection of post-phenomenology, new materialism, digital literacy, and gender theory. 

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Published

2018-07-19

How to Cite

Warfield, K. (2018). Im(matter)ial Bodies: A Material and Affective Rethinking of Selfies for Digital Literacy Resources. Language and Literacy, 20(3), 73–88. https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29410