Branding the Teleself: Media Effects Discourse and the Changing Self

(Paperback)

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Branding the Teleself is a discourse on the standard history social scientific study of media effects with the purpose of revealing changes in how our selves have been reconceived in its study and how the discourse generated further important changes in the self, and how our everyday selves shape and are shaped by social, economic, and political structures. It uncovers a self that has developed through various stages to become a new self that Ernest A. Hakanen dubs the teleself, one that knowingly delivers itself to the media for the sake of the global market place. The teleself is a brand, and this identity is a product that could be differentiated to a degree from other products, and the self is mere packaging that gives the illusion of product differentiation. This is the illusory power of names and naming.

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Hakanen offers a fascinating and innovative account of the self in today's technologically saturated world, and the ways in which our very reflections on media effects contribute to the cultural shift. The resulting portrait of the teleself is scarcely flattering, but if Hakanen's analysis is on target, we are courting illusions that are ultimately enslaving. -- Kenneth J. Gergen, Swarthmore College; author of The Saturated Self

Author Bio

Ernest A. Hakanen is associate professor of communication and director of the culture and communication graduate program at Drexel University.