Inscribing place in Singapore: Instagram depictions of hauntedness

IF 3 3区管理学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Information Society Pub Date : 2022-05-27 DOI:10.1080/01972243.2022.2071216

Ershen Kaur, C. Graham, Koh Hong Kai

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract In this article we examine the construction and circulation of images of a purportedly haunted house in Singapore’s folklore, Istana Woodneuk, through Instagram. Analyzing a corpus of 960 Instagram images, we first identify 14 tropes and then two overarching themes – haunted-place making and subversive imaging. We make three main points in this article. Firstly, we argue that the creation of Istana Woodneuk Instagram posts can be understood only against the backdrop of national anxieties about the constraint and control of land and history. Secondly, and relatedly, we posit that the bottom-up creation and collective sharing of these posts is an assertion of young Singaporean identity against a larger state narrative. Istana Woodneuk, in its ambiguity and hauntedness, along with Instagram’s affordances, gives young Singaporeans a unique unregulated space for escape from “reality” and control. Thirdly, we argue that these Instagram posts blend frivolity and thoughtlessness with resistance and self-expression, where personal stories weave into a larger communal narrative that offers bottom-up alternatives to the state sponsored “Singapore Story.” This intersection between Istana Woodneuk as a space, in contrast to other state-defined delineated places of death, and the infrastructural properties of Instagram are crucial to the construction of this larger narrative.

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新加坡的取景地：Instagram上对闹鬼的描绘

摘要在这篇文章中，我们通过Instagram研究了新加坡民间传说中一座据称闹鬼的房子Istana Woodneuk的图像的构建和传播。通过分析960张Instagram图片的语料库，我们首先确定了14个比喻，然后确定了两个总体主题——闹鬼的地方制作和颠覆性的成像。我们在这篇文章中提出三个要点。首先，我们认为，只有在国家对土地和历史的约束和控制感到焦虑的背景下，才能理解Istana Woodneuk Instagram帖子的创建。其次，与此相关的是，我们认为，自下而上的创造和集体分享这些职位是对新加坡年轻人身份的断言，而不是对更大的国家叙事的断言。Istana Woodneuk的模糊和令人难忘，加上Instagram的可供性，为新加坡年轻人提供了一个独特的、不受监管的逃离“现实”和控制的空间。第三，我们认为，这些Instagram帖子将轻浮和轻率与抵抗和自我表达融合在一起，个人故事编织成一个更大的公共叙事，为国家赞助的“新加坡故事”提供了自下而上的替代方案，Instagram的基础设施属性对构建这一更大的叙事至关重要。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Information Society Multiple-

CiteScore

5.00

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Information Society is a multidisciplinary journal intended to answer questions about the Information Age. It provides a forum for thoughtful commentary and discussion of significant topics in the world of information, such as transborder data flow, regulatory issues, the impact of the information industry, information as a determinant of public and private organizational performance, and information and the sovereignty of the public and private organizational performance, and information and the sovereignty of the public. Its papers analyze information policy issues affecting society. Because of the journal"s international perspective, it will have worldwide appeal to scientists and policymakers in government, education, and industry.