Introduction: #TogetherApart: Mediatization, (Inter)subjectivity and Sociality at a Time of Pandemic

Abstract

This special issue features 12 contributions by early career scholars and artists dealing with the role of mediatization in the COVID-19 pandemic conjuncture. Themes such as mediated intimacy and sociality, pandemic ideology, politicians’ curated authenticity and discursive constructions of self, and playbour and resistance in digital games are examined in five original articles, while three autoethnographic contributions explore the concepts of mediated presence, collectivity, contemplative community, loneliness and relationality. The autoethnographies – in the form of short film, collage and poetry vignettes, respectively – add a personal experiential layer to the broader themes. To generate (mediated) interpersonal dialogue, two artists/academics engage deeply with the autoethographies, further reflecting on the themes explored therein. The issue concludes with an interview with Professor Andreas Hepp, of the University of Bremen, who comments on the contributions and reflects on the role of “deep mediatization” in the pandemic world.

Narrating Pandemics across Time and Space

“…Furthermore, some scholars have engaged in writing and distributing short dispatches, chronicles, and other short stories recounting their first‐hand experiences during the COVID‐19 pandemic (e.g., Bassetti, Fine, and Chan 2020 ; Black 2021 ; Desjarlais, Perrino, and Reno, forthcoming ; Fassin and Fourcade 2021 ; Gora 2020 ; Lynteris 2020 ; Žižek 2020a , 2020b ). Moreover, social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube have become essential digital spaces for many individuals in isolation during lockdown orders (Anderson and Putta 2021 ). My friends and family members seem to post stories, videos, and photographs much more often than they used to do before the pandemic.…”