Good young nostalgia: Camera phones and technologies of self among Israeli youths

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21 Scopus citations

Abstract

The nostalgic consumption of images, which only a few years ago was practised mainly by adults, has lately become prevalent among Israeli teenage girls. Girls often describe themselves as 'nostalgic' and nostalgia has become a desired emotion. Unlike the nostalgia of former generations, this nostalgia is cumulative and not necessarily based on a strong dichotomous contrast between past and present. The transformation of nostalgia is closely related to developments in technology (the camera-phone and the internet) and in the possession-patterns of devices. Personal mobile phones are used by teenagers for production, archiving and consumption of documentary images on a daily basis. These images, not unrelated to those of mass media, are consumed by teenagers in order to evoke nostalgia and other emotions, as a technology of self. This trend also contributes to blur the ontic distinction between events and their representations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)348-376
Number of pages29
JournalJournal of Consumer Culture
Volume9
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Blogs
  • Camera-phones
  • Consumption
  • Databasification
  • Egodocuments
  • Emotionology
  • Emotions
  • Nostalgia
  • Photography
  • Technology of self
  • Youths

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