ABSTRACT
In the present media environments, our mediated experience in modern society is constructed by “the political.” A “reality” is constructed individually through our media experience. In Japan, the “struggle over meaning”—how people see the pandemic and what they think it is—is activated through conflicts between these realities. How then is “the political” activated in the mediated experience of the COVID-19 pandemic? This chapter focuses on the role of emotions in the activation of “the political” and the politics of emotions surrounding the pandemic. During collectively experienced crises, people’s emotions such as “anxiety,” “fear,” and “anger” can converge in a collective identity that influences the political process and social order. These emotions are widely circulated and shared through a multiplicity of media practices. This chapter critically analyzes the functions of the media during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Through the analysis, it shows how the media distributed and shared the above emotions in a hybrid media system and considers a risk that mediated experiences pose for pandemic solutions.
