The Narrative Subject

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Introduction

   • Christina Schachtner

   Pages 1-27Open Access

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3. Storytelling as a Cultural Practice and Life Form

   • Christina Schachtner

   Pages 29-75Open Access

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4. The Narrative Space of the Internet

   • Christina Schachtner

   Pages 77-124Open Access

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5. The Net Generation’s Stories: A Typology

   • Christina Schachtner

   Pages 125-183Open Access

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6. A Theoretical Postscript: Time, Space, the Self and the You, and Digital Media as Narrative Constructions

   • Christina Schachtner

   Pages 185-224Open Access

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7. Narrating as an Answer to Sociocultural Challenges

   • Christina Schachtner

   Pages 225-248Open Access

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8. Narrative Production of Culture

   • Christina Schachtner

   Pages 249-265Open Access

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9. Back Matter

   Pages 267-269

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This open access book considers the stories of adolescents and young adults from different regions of the world who use digital media as instruments and stages for storytelling, or who make the media the subject of story telling. These narratives discuss interconnectedness, self-staging, and managing boundaries. From the perspective of media and cultural research, they can be read as responses to the challenges of contemporary society. Providing empirical evidence and thought-provoking explanations, this book will be useful to students and scholars who wish to uncover how ongoing processes of cultural transformation are reflected in the thoughts and feelings of the internet generation. 

• digital media
• social media
• adolescents
• young adults
• digital storytelling
• narrative
• storytelling
• open access

“The contextualization of individual stories in the global digital narrative space proves to be the most noteworthy strength of the book. Thanks to multiple glances at society, narrators, and sociocultural developments, the complexity of identity formation in the fi eld of tension between social meaning and individual appropriation becomes clear.” (Kathrin Rothemund, Media Scholar, Berlin, Germany)

“Stories like these show how networked and free of conventional rules storytellers operate on the Internet. Not only the narrative content, but also the narrative forms and intentions are changing. Schachtner’s analyses contribute valuable insights to this. This book is a helpful inventory that is also useful as a guide.” (Sebastian Meißner, Professor of Media Management at the University Macromedia, Hamburg, Germany)

“After reading this book, you will better understand the preference for the virtual world of Generation Y. Dealing with storytelling in the age of the Internet is worthwhile for everyone.” (Helga Maria Wolf, Journalist and Co-Editor of the Austria Forum, Austria)

• Institute of Media and Communications, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria

  Christina Schachtner

Christina Schachtner is Professor of Media and Communications at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. Her research focuses on migration and media, network communication, virtual publics, social movements in the age of the internet, and digital media and psychoanalysis. 

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