ABSTRACT

This original and interdisciplinary volume explores the contemporary semiotic dimensions of the face from both scientific and sociocultural perspectives, putting forward several traditions, aspects, and signs of the human utopia of creating a hybrid face.

The book semiotically delves into the multifaceted realm of the digital face, exploring its biological and social functions, the concept of masks, the impact of COVID-19, AI systems, digital portraiture, symbolic faces in films, viral communication, alien depictions, personhood in video games, online intimacy, and digital memorials. The human face is increasingly living a life that is not only that of the biological body but also that of its digital avatar, spread through a myriad of new channels and transformable through filters, post-productions, digital cosmetics, all the way to the creation of deepfakes. The digital face expresses new and largely unknown meanings, which this book explores and analyzes through an interdisciplinary but systematic approach.

The volume will interest researchers, scholars, and advanced students who are interested in digital humanities, communication studies, semiotics, visual studies, visual anthropology, cultural studies, and, broadly speaking, innovative approaches about the meaning of the face in present-day digital societies.

The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

chapter 1|21 pages

Masked faces

A tale of functional redeployment between biology and material culture 1
Size: 0.73 MB

chapter 2|17 pages

Contagious faces

Coping digitally with the pandemic by means of memes 1
Size: 0.35 MB

chapter 3|20 pages

Uncertain faces

An investigation into visual forms for communicating otherness 1
Size: 0.28 MB

chapter 4|15 pages

Simulacral faces

A dramaturgy in digital environments 1
Size: 0.21 MB

chapter 5|13 pages

Emerging faces

The figure-ground relation from renaissance painting to deepfakes 1
Size: 0.25 MB

chapter 6|22 pages

Timely faces 1

Size: 0.33 MB

chapter 7|20 pages

Featureless faces

A film aesthetics 1
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chapter 8|17 pages

Imaginary faces

Aliens, monsters, and otherness 1
Size: 0.25 MB

chapter 9|15 pages

Automatic faces

The transcendent visage of trans-humanity 1
Size: 1.05 MB

chapter 10|19 pages

Algorithmic faces

Reflections on the visage in artistic translation and transition 1
Size: 0.32 MB

chapter 11|12 pages

Dating faces

The facial space of belonging in online (dating) communities 1
Size: 0.24 MB

chapter 12|23 pages

Evanescent faces

A semiotic investigation of digital memorials and commemorative practices 1
Size: 1.50 MB