Homebodies
Performance and Intimacy in the Age of New Media
How social media transforming authenticity into a choreographed and commodified image
Description
Homebodies: Performance and Intimacy in the Age of New Media sheds light on a fascinating yet often overlooked phenomenon: how ordinary people transform their private lives into captivating performances for the digital stage. Focusing on home dance videos shared on Instagram from 2010 to 2020, the book explores the delicate art of "intimaesthetics"—the aestheticization of intimacy through the interplay of body, space, and media—and the paradox of the homebody. These seemingly spontaneous performances reveal how users craft images of closeness and authenticity, drawing audiences into a curated version of their domestic lives. Yet, Porter argues, these intimate portrayals exist within a larger system of platform control, algorithmic surveillance, and the commodification of personal expression.
Porter utilizes hand-drawn illustrations in place of screenshots, which reflects their commitment to critiquing the exploitative dynamics of digital visibility while respecting the personal nature of the media studied. By examining the intersection of personal agency, algorithmic control, and the commodification of authenticity, Homebodies provides a nuanced understanding of how technology redefines intimacy, identity, and creativity in the twenty-first century.
L. Archer Porter is an artist-scholar of performance and new media, teaching in the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Reviews
“Homebodies offers a sophisticated new theory of intimacy in popular digital media, showing how home dancers choreograph an aesthetic of domestic closeness even as black-box algorithms drive the global circulation of their videos. In lively, accessible prose, Porter presents compelling close readings of amateur performances figured as both authentically personal and uncontrollably public.”
- Kiri Miller, author of Playable Bodies: Dance Games and Intimate Media
“Homebodies is an elegant and beautifully written book that asks to be read on its own terms: up close to dancers and their intimate performances. The concepts Porter introduces here add to the nuanced discussions surrounding race, class, and power in new media.”
- Nicholas Carah, author of Media and Society: Power, Platforms, & Participation
“Porter paints intimate insights with a tact and care that gently carries readers into the lifeworlds of bodies and rhythms in mediated spaces, a calibration of the self that reflects how digital practices help us to see and soar.”
- Crystal Abidin, author of TikTok and Youth Cultures
“Rather than include screenshots of videos, illustrations depict reference visuals, choice in keeping with the overall analysis. Each chapter is accompanied by extensive, thoroughly researched notes. References provide ample direction for further reading and research, and situate this text solidly within the interdiscplinary context fitting for this ubiquitous new media. Summing up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.”
- C. Swendsrud, Choice
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