10 Mar 13:00 Johanna Sumiala: Globalized Fears – Circulating Imaginaries of Violence on YouTube

Wednesday 10.3. 13:00-14:00, Spektri 3rd floor seminar room,

Dr. Johanna Sumiala
"Globalized Fears – Circulating Imaginaries of Violence on YouTube" 

Department of Social Research, Media & Communication Studies
University of Helsinki

Abstract
In recent years the concept of “circulation” has been of special interest in the field anthropology (see e.g., Spitulnik 1997; Gaonkar 2002; Lee & LiPuma 2002). This talk aims at elaborating the idea of
circulation in the context of visual media anthropology. I will illuminate the workings of circulation by illustrating how violent media images travel on YouTube and how the video clips contribute to formation and reformation of globalized social imaginaries of violence (Butler 2003; Appadurai 2006). Special focus is given to the analysis of
circulation of the school shooting videos on YouTube. I argue that the school shootings as visual media spectacles of violence, death and  terror can be seen as paradigmatic examples of deadly events stimulating
social imaginaries of violence through the cultural logic of circulation in the era of globalization.

Biography
PhD. Johanna Sumiala is currently Senior Lecturer at the Department of Social Research/University of Helsinki. She holds a PhD in Media Studies. Her main areas of expertise are media anthropology, visual
culture, religion and media, and media history.

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