AESTHETIZATION VERSUS ANESTHETIZATION - THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE STRATEGY OF PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY
Keywords:
Psychogeography, Derive, Situationism, Urban psychology, Anesthetization of lifeAbstract
There is a reviving interest to the issue of psychogeography after the very coinage of the term by Lettrist’s high priest Ivan Chtcheglov in the late 30s of the previous century, the continuation and the development by Guy Debord and the Situationists in the 50s and the 60s, and its postmodern definition in the theory of Fredric Jameson in the 90s. Psychogeography for Chtcheglov revolves under the concept of unitary urbanism while for Debord, the project of psychogeography is initiated by the invention of the practical technique of derive. On the other hand, Jameson’s two famous concepts, those of cognitive and affective mapping, became the staple of any academic text dealing with the complexities of the increased digitalization of modern life. The article attempts to answer the following questions: What is the difference between these concepts and what are the aspects that unite them all? What is the importance of psychogeography in the era of digital and AI technology? And finally, is it possible to create your own aesthetics of life among the predominance of the docile, anesthetized culture
References
Beller, J. (2003). The cinematic mode of production: towards a political economy of the postmodern. Culture, Theory and Critique, 44(1), 91–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/1473578032000110486
Bracken, L. (1997). Guy Debord : revolutionary. Feral House.
Bracken, L. (2000). The Spectacle of Secrecy.
Bunyard, T. (2011). A Genealogy and Critique of Guy Debord’s Theory of Spectacle.
Clark, T. J., & Nicholson-Smith, D. (1997). Why Art Can’t Kill the Situationist International.
Corcos, A. (2023). “BY EVERY HYPER-POLITICAL MEANS”: INTERNATIONALE SITUATIONNISTE AND THE REVIEW AS WEAPON. Forum for Modern Language Studies, 59(3), 362–375. https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqad044
Coverley, M. (2010). Psychogeography. Pocket Essentials.
de Bruin, B., Zaal, R., & Jeurissen, R. (2023). Pitting Virtue Ethics against Situationism: an Empirical Argument for Virtue. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-023-10381-5
Debord, G. (1994). The Society of the Spectacle. Black & Red. (Original work published 1967)
Gilman-Opalsky, R. (2011). Spectacular capitalism : Guy Debord and the practice of radical philosophy. Minor Compositions ; Brooklyn, Ny.
Kapp, T. (2024). Self-Published Psychogeographies: Zines, DIY Communities and the 21st Century Drifter, Palgrave Macmillan
Marcus, G. (2025). Mystery Train. Faber & Faber.
Marcus, G. (2011). Lipstick traces: a secret history of the twentieth century. Faber.
Dunayevskaya R. (2002). The Power of Negativity. Lexington Books.
Rhodes, P. (2025). A Psychogeography of Florence. Springer.
Sadler, S. (1999). The situationist city. The Mit Press.
Schoonderbeek, M. (2024). The Border Complex: Mapping Spaces of Simultaneity. TU Delft Research Portal, 201–217. https://research.tudelft.nl/en/publications/the-border-complex-mapping-spaces-of-simultaneity/Self-Published Psychogeographies Zines, DIY Communities and the 21st Century Drifter. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2026, from https://content.e-bookshelf.de/media/reading/L-24282445-15e2d24805.pdf
Tso. (2020). The Literary Psychogeography of London. Springer International Publishing.
