Scholarlink

This paper aims to explore the social media phenomenon called ‘Sick Style’ by shedding light on some of its linguistic realizations. ‘Sick Style’ can be defined as distinctive mode of self-presentation on platforms such as Instagram, characterized by the use of therapeutic language and emotional expression within the context of mental health. This phenomenon can be viewed as a contemporary manifestation of a long-standing trend in the discourse surrounding well-being and personal narratives. Interestingly, the ‘rise of the therapeutic’ in Western societies has been described as a new cultural structure on numerous occasions (Aubry and Travis in Rethinking therapeutic culture. The University of Chicago Press, 2015; Illouz in Saving the modern soul: therapy, emotions, and the culture of self-Help. The University of California Press, 2008; Madsen in The therapeutic turn: how psychology altered western culture. Routledge, 2014; Rieff 1987; Rosner in Hist Psychol 21:177–186, 2018; Wright in The rise of the therapeutic society. New Academia Publishing, LLC., 2011). Since almost 60 years, the discourse on psychotherapy is expanding into non-therapeutic social settings (such as parenting/counselling books, business, or television shows) and has stabilized as a “cultural idiom” (Illouz, 2018). However, in recent times, new forms of ‘psychologization’ and ‘psychotherapeutization’ have surfaced in the in the context of digital self-thematisation. A large proportion of TikTok and blog posts but also Instagram stories dealing with the field of mental health consist of content in which users present and discuss their own mental illness in a medially charged way (for example, with videos, photos, memes, etc.)—a phenomenon that for some years now can be subsumed under the notion of ‘Sick Style’ (Schmocker in Design-ethnografische Trendforschung - Sturm und Drang. Sturmunddrang.de, 2021. https://www.sturmunddrang.de/magazin/sick-style-willkommen-in-der-virtuellen-welt-des-leidens.html ). The aim of this contribution is to give a general overview of the phenomenon in English and German social media and to provide some starting points for further (linguistic) research.

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Sick Style Aesthetics. A Cultural-Linguistic Perspective on a not so New Microtrend

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

查看全文
  • Ramona Teresa Plitt

摘要

This paper aims to explore the social media phenomenon called ‘Sick Style’ by shedding light on some of its linguistic realizations. ‘Sick Style’ can be defined as distinctive mode of self-presentation on platforms such as Instagram, characterized by the use of therapeutic language and emotional expression within the context of mental health. This phenomenon can be viewed as a contemporary manifestation of a long-standing trend in the discourse surrounding well-being and personal narratives. Interestingly, the ‘rise of the therapeutic’ in Western societies has been described as a new cultural structure on numerous occasions (Aubry and Travis in Rethinking therapeutic culture. The University of Chicago Press, 2015; Illouz in Saving the modern soul: therapy, emotions, and the culture of self-Help. The University of California Press, 2008; Madsen in The therapeutic turn: how psychology altered western culture. Routledge, 2014; Rieff 1987; Rosner in Hist Psychol 21:177–186, 2018; Wright in The rise of the therapeutic society. New Academia Publishing, LLC., 2011). Since almost 60 years, the discourse on psychotherapy is expanding into non-therapeutic social settings (such as parenting/counselling books, business, or television shows) and has stabilized as a “cultural idiom” (Illouz, 2018). However, in recent times, new forms of ‘psychologization’ and ‘psychotherapeutization’ have surfaced in the in the context of digital self-thematisation. A large proportion of TikTok and blog posts but also Instagram stories dealing with the field of mental health consist of content in which users present and discuss their own mental illness in a medially charged way (for example, with videos, photos, memes, etc.)—a phenomenon that for some years now can be subsumed under the notion of ‘Sick Style’ (Schmocker in Design-ethnografische Trendforschung - Sturm und Drang. Sturmunddrang.de, 2021. https://www.sturmunddrang.de/magazin/sick-style-willkommen-in-der-virtuellen-welt-des-leidens.html ). The aim of this contribution is to give a general overview of the phenomenon in English and German social media and to provide some starting points for further (linguistic) research.