The Analogue Idyll: Disconnection, Detox and Departure from the Digital World

by Alexander R.E. Taylor (Editor)

Overview

Once upon a time, in a golden age before the internet, social media and smartphones, there existed an analogue world where people lived slower, simpler and healthier lives that were more authentic, natural and meaningful. This is the analogue idyll: a compelling narrative of contemporary culture that celebrates the virtues of analogue media and offline experiences.

Exploring the significance of the ‘analogue’ in our increasingly digital world, this timely contribution to digital disconnection studies raises critical questions about the meaning of technology in our lives and societies, as public debates about the addictions, distractions,and harms of digital culture accelerate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781529233704
Publisher:	Bristol University Press
Publication date:	03/01/2026
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

A.R.E. Taylor is Senior Lecturer in Communications at the University of Exeter.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: A New Idyll Myth? - A.R.E. Taylor

2. ‘We Don’t Have Wi-Fi, Talk to Each Other’: Digital Disconnection in the Hospitality Industry - Alexandra Kviat

3. Digital Disconnection and Agency: Ambiguities, Differences and Continuities - Paula Helm

4. Selling the Promise of Presence: How Companies Promote Digital Disconnection and Detox Courses in Denmark - Kristoffer Albris, Malene Hornstrup Jespersen and Annika Isfeldt Disentangling

5. Digital Collapse and Doomsday Prepping - A.R.E. Taylor

6. Digital Representations on the Appalachian Trail: Complicating Experiences of Long-Distance Walking as an Analogue Idyll - Dave McLaughlin

7. Disconnecting Against Intrusion: Ethnographic Reflections from Kinshasa - Katrien Pype

8. Finding Digital Distance: Tactics in the New Digital Divide - Paul O’ Connor

9. Analogue Celebrity - Neil Ewen and A.R.E. Taylor

10. Analogue Labour: The Making of Vinyl Records and Craft Work after Digitization - Michael Palm

11. Fugitive Pathways: Seclusion, Ephemerality and Co-Presence in Higher Education - Lesley Gourlay

Editorial Reviews

‘Is the culture of connectivity giving rise to an age of technostalgia? This book provides you with illuminating analyses of how digitization leads to a new longing for disconnection and offline purity. A real eye opener!’ José van Dijck, Utrecht University

From the Publisher