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This book examines the pervasive phenomenon of trauma and its narrative representation in social media platforms. The book specifically explores how, despite its pedagogical gains, the circulation and consumption of information on social media platforms may exacerbate mental health issues. Containing insightful contributions from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya and Uganda, the book brings together a unique blend of scholarly research that interrogates social media-induced trauma in sub-Saharan Africa, thereby contributing to the current understanding of the effects of emotional contagion and media amplification on human beings. Trauma in the Age of Social Media: Narrative and Representation will appeal to students and scholars from a range of disciplines, including trauma and memory studies, cultural studies, gender studies, popular culture, psychology, digital media technologies and literary studies.
List of contents
.- Introduction: The Contours of Social Media Trauma.- Nick Mdika Tembo.- 1. #TextTheThief and the Era of Subtle Violence on Ugandan Social Media Platforms: A Case of X Isaac Tibasiima.- 2. Confronting Silence: Kenyan Women Narrating Female Health Traumas on Social Media Jacqueline Ojiambo.- 3. Information Seeking on Social Media as a Coping Mechanism During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Malawi Peter Mhagama.- 4. Social Media, Xenophobia and Trauma in South Africa Limukani Mathe.- 5. Gukurahundi Memory, Trauma, and Social Media: Exploring Zimbabwean Women s Experiences of Genocidal Gendered Violence Mediated in Online Documentaries Mphathisi Ndlovu, Nonhlanhla Ndlovu and Nkosini Khupe.- 6. Covering Police or Military is Like Entering a Dock : Experiences of and Responses to Trauma among Uganda Female Journalists Gerald Walulya and Ivan Lukanda.- 7. Status Update Phenomenon: Trauma in WhatsApp Status Updates among Spouses Serah Kasembeli.- 8. Encountering Trauma Online: Perspectives on Platform Vulnerabilities and Wounding Experiences of Kenyan Social Media Users Denish Odanga and James Ogone.- 9. Cyberbullying and the TikTok Lives of Gender and Sexual Minorities in South Africa and Zimbabwe Gibson Ncube.- 10. Consequences of My Actions: Versions of Perpetrator Trauma in Nigerian YouTube Videos Nick Mdika Tembo.
About the author
Nick Mdika Tembo holds a PhD in English Studies from Stellenbosch University and is currently a Professor of English in the Department of Literary Studies at the University of Malawi. His teaching and research interest are in trauma and memory studies, holocaust and genocide studies, childhood studies, child soldier narratives, African life writing, and social media technologies. He has extensively published in these research fields.
Summary
This book examines the pervasive phenomenon of trauma and its narrative representation in social media platforms. The book specifically explores how, despite its pedagogical gains, the circulation and consumption of information on social media platforms may exacerbate mental health issues. Containing insightful contributions from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya and Uganda, the book brings together a unique blend of scholarly research that interrogates social media-induced trauma in sub-Saharan Africa, thereby contributing to the current understanding of the effects of emotional contagion and media amplification on human beings. Trauma in the Age of Social Media: Narrative and Representation will appeal to students and scholars from a range of disciplines, including trauma and memory studies, cultural studies, gender studies, popular culture, psychology, digital media technologies and literary studies.
