Journal of Shanghai University (Social Science Edition) ›› 2026, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (2): 78-92.

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Fragmentation or Distraction: From Mediated Body to Negative Subject

  

  1. School of Politics and International Relations, East China Normal University
  • Online:2026-03-15 Published:2026-03-17

Abstract: Since the advent of the digital age, the mediatization of the body has become a prominent themeworthy of deep reflection. This issue can be broadly approached in three steps. First, it is necessary to clarify therelationship between the body, image, and media. This will reveal the close connection between the body andmedia while also enabling a deeper understanding of the central concept af body image. Second, throughouthuman history, the body image has faced the risk of abstraction and symbolization. This tendency is cleadyevident in the critiques of consumer and digital societies by Baudrillard and Bordo. Third, although turning to amore comprehensive body schema may appear to offer a solution, the binary opposition between the normal andthe pathological presupposed within it further limits this potential. Thus, within the phenomena of fragmentationand distraction produced by technological mediatization, within the oscillating ecart between humans andtechnology, and within the negative dimension opened up by the unthought, we can further reflect on the body'salternative"uses”.

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