{"id":1449,"date":"2025-01-04T13:08:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T13:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/factor\/?p=1449"},"modified":"2025-01-04T13:54:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T13:54:58","slug":"james-cronin-digital-dreamscapes-the-spectralisation-of-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/factor\/2025\/01\/04\/james-cronin-digital-dreamscapes-the-spectralisation-of-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"James &amp; Cronin &#8211; Digital Dreamscapes &amp; The Spectralisation Of Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>FACTOR is pleased to announce our next talk in the 2024-2025 academic year by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/lums\/people\/sophie-james\">Sophie James<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/lums\/\">LUMS<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/security-and-protection-science\/\">SPS<\/a>, Lancaster University) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/lums\/people\/james-cronin\">Professor James Cronin<\/a> (LUMS, Lancaster University):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>TITLE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Digital Dreamscapes &amp; The Spectralisation Of Reality<\/p>\n<p><strong>ABSTRACT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Following arguments that the sociology of tourism extends beyond the movement of bodies between physical locations to include \u2018mind-voyaging\u2019 throughout cyberspace, we consider digitally networked horror consumption as a nascent variant of dark tourism. In this paper, the acts of seeking out and spending time in digital dreamscapes centred on the weird, eerie and abject \u2013 such as \u2018creepypasta\u2019, Reddit\u2019s \u2018r\/nosleep\u2019 and 4chan\u2019s \u2018\/x\/paranormal\u2019 discussion boards \u2013 are theorised as journeys that endow the familiar with obscene libidinal energy. These sites do not offer an escape from ordinary reality, rather they enable some detail of reality itself to become spectralised and thus reinterpreted with a <em>nightmarish dreamlike <\/em>quality. Drawing upon and adapting a \u017di\u017eekian toolbox, we consider the touristic appeal of digitally networked horror consumption as derived from an ontological incompleteness which, in today\u2019s post-historical geographies of \u2018nothing\u2019 (where most places are mapped, commodified, and demystified), provides the fantasy of exclusive and uncharted territory beyond a finite, knowable universe. The possibility that the otherworldly might still be found within our world, albeit in remediated forms online, legitimises digital dreamscapes as the final frontier for dark tourists seeking out the unsettling, while their free-to-access and typically non-copyrighted content functions beyond the rationalising influence of capitalist realism. Although they ostensibly deviate from the overt commercialism that has come to contaminate most physical sites for dark tourism, these <em>digital dreamscapes<\/em> also seem to reject historical authenticity and morality, centring instead on mythology, simulacra, and sublimating the anomalous. Cybersecurity concerns associated with these online spaces arise from the risks of anonymity-driven misinformation, the spread of malicious content, and potentially, significant dangers for individuals with pre-existing psychological conditions who may struggle with the blurring of boundaries between reality and fiction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TIME &amp; PLACE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>W12, 1500-1550, Thu 23rd Jan 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/itpi\/web\/services\/room\/10919\">Welcome Centre LT1 (A34)<\/a>. (Please note that this talk will <strong>not<\/strong> be streamed or recorded.)<\/p>\n<p>Find information on how to get to campus <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/about-us\/maps-and-travel\/\">here<\/a>, and how to navigate campus buildings <a href=\"https:\/\/use.mazemap.com\/#v=1&amp;config=lancaster&amp;campusid=341&amp;zlevel=NaN&amp;center=-2.780714,54.009646&amp;zoom=14.3\">here<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FACTOR is pleased to announce our next talk in the 2024-2025 academic year by Sophie James (LUMS, SPS, Lancaster University) and Professor James Cronin (LUMS, Lancaster University): TITLE Digital Dreamscapes &amp; The Spectralisation Of Reality ABSTRACT Following arguments that the sociology of tourism extends beyond the movement of bodies between physical locations to include \u2018mind-voyaging\u2019 [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":1452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"episode_featured_image":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/factor\/files\/2025\/01\/OIG1.jpeg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/factor\/files\/2018\/11\/cover_2000.png?fit=2000%2C2000","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/factor\/feed\/podcast\/the-forge","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"lv4PM4YHPx\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/factor\/2025\/01\/04\/james-cronin-digital-dreamscapes-the-spectralisation-of-reality\/\">James &amp; Cronin &#8211; Digital Dreamscapes &amp; The Spectralisation Of Reality<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/factor\/2025\/01\/04\/james-cronin-digital-dreamscapes-the-spectralisation-of-reality\/embed\/#?secret=lv4PM4YHPx\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;James &amp; Cronin &#8211; Digital Dreamscapes &amp; The Spectralisation Of Reality&#8221; &#8212; FACTOR\" data-secret=\"lv4PM4YHPx\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! 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