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Steffen Krüger

Image of Steffen Krüger
Phone +47 22 85 04 42
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Visiting address Gaustadalléen 21 Forskningsparken 0349 Oslo
Postal address Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo

Academic interests

I am co-heading the Screen Cultures research project and Master's programme, one of the prioritized research areas at the Faculty of Humanities (2019-2023). Together with our students, our team of researchers delve into various aspects of our screen lives, exploring their historical, technological, aesthetic and political dimensions, as well as their formative cultural effects. I am specifically interested in the political aspects of digitalisation, which I approach from a (symbolic) interactional perspective, inquiring into the ways habitual, relational practices are forming both the individual and the socio-cultural.

My former research project, "Online Interaction Forms", financed by the Norwegian Research Council (NFR), has looked specifically at the affective dimension of interacting in various online environments. My approach has primarily been abductive, departing from the exemplary and symptomatic. It is derived from Alfred Lorenzer’s (1970, 1986) "scenic understanding", a psychosocial method of cultural analysis with a psychoanalytic orientation. Developing this method further, my work seeks to triangulate its psychosocial orientation by critically inquiring into the role of media and mediation in the always incomplete and imperfect processes of subjectification and socialisation.

My interests extend to the following fields within media and cultural studies:

- media & communication theory.
- psychosocial & psychoanalytic theory.

- critical theory.
- qualitative methodology (scenic understanding, discourse analysis, media-aesthetic analysis).
- screen culture: online platforms, social networking sites, critical approaches to participation and convergence cultures as well as user-generated content.
- affect, emotion and feeling in media communication and interaction.
- the roles, functions and meanings of aggression, mourning, humor and other mental states in media communication.

Courses taught

  • Internet, Self & Society (MEVIT 4616)
  • Methods in Media Studies (MEVIT 4834)
  • Courses under the Screen Cultures umbrella (MEVIT 4700 etc.)
Tags: digital culture, media and communication, psychosocial studies, Social media, Media aesthetics, Political communication

Publications

  • Krüger, Steffen (2025). Formative Medien – psychoanalytische Medienforschung zwischen Distanzlosigkeit und Abwesenheit. texte – psychoanalyse. ästhetik. kulturkritik. ISSN 0254-7902. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Aarseth, Helene (2025). The debt of privilege: audit culture, universities and the depletion of mental space. Journal of Psychosocial Studies. 18(1), p. 5–21. doi: 10.1332/14786737Y2025D000000040. Full text in Research Archive
  • Aarseth, Helene; Nielsen, Harriet Bjerrum & Krüger, Steffen (2023). Freedom, Resonance, Interaction. Critical Theory and Creative Relations Between the Psyche and the Social. In Frosh, Stephen; Walsh, Julie & Vyrgioti, Marita (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Psychosocial Studies. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783030615109. p. 1–20. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-61510-9. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2023). Have your cake and feed it fonvard too: Youtube, oral cravings and the persistent question of media addiction. First Monday. 28(11). doi: 10.5210/fm.v28i8.12917. Full text in Research Archive
  • Finch, Matthew; Bhroin, Niamh Ní & Krüger, Steffen (2023). Unlearning, relearning, staying with the trouble: Scenarios and the future of education. Prospect: Quarterly Review of Comparative Education. ISSN 0033-1538. doi: 10.1007/s11125-023-09664-7. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2023). Media Studies and the Psychosocial Subject. In Frosh, Stephen; Walsh, Julie & Vyrgioti, Marita (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Psychosocial Studies. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783030615109. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-61510-9_4-1. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Degel, Alexander (2022). The fall of the East German trickster: A comparative cultural analysis of East and West German jokes before and after reunification. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. ISSN 1088-0763. 27, p. 181–200. doi: 10.1057/s41282-022-00280-6. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Wilson, Christopher Ben (2022). The problem with trust: on the discursive commodification of trust in AI. AI & Society: Knowledge, Culture and Communication. ISSN 0951-5666. doi: 10.1007/s00146-022-01401-6. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2022). Arrested Hermeneutics – Reassessing Alfred Lorenzer’s conceptions of cultural analysis and psychoanalysis. In Rothe, Katharina; Krüger, Steffen & Rosengart, Daniel (Ed.), Cultural Analysis Now! Alfred Lorenzer and the in-depth hermeneutics of culture and society. UiT Norges arktiske universitet. ISSN 9781942254195. p. 207–239. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Busch, Katarina (2021). "Für jede Art von Freiheit": Thesen zu Rechtspopulismus und sozialen Medien. WestEnd Neue Zeitschrift fur Sozialforschung. ISSN 1860-2177. 2021(1), p. 127–140. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen; Wilson, Christopher Ben & Tungodden, Kayla (2021). Trust for sale - A critical reading of the Norwegian National Strategy for AI. Norsk medietidsskrift (NMT). ISSN 0804-8452. 28(2-2021), p. 1–6. doi: 10.18261/ISSN.0805-9535-2021-02-07. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Degel, Alexander (2020). Der Untergang des ostdeutschen Tricksters – Eine vergleichende Kulturanalyse ost- und westdeutscher Witze vor und nach dem Mauerfall. Psychologie und Gesellschaftskritik. ISSN 0170-0537. 2020-3/4(175+176). Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2020). Anal sexuality and male subcultures online: The politics of self-deprecation in the deep vernacular web. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. ISSN 1088-0763. doi: 10.1057/s41282-020-00207-z. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Finch, Matthew (2020). 2050 was last year. Times of COVID-19 Blog. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Bhroin, Niamh Ni (2020). Vital Signs: Innovations in Self-Tracking Health Insurance and Social Change. The Journal of Media Innovations. 6(1), p. 93–108. doi: 10.5617/jomi.7836. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Spilde, Ane Charlotte (2019). Judging books by their covers – Tinder interface, usage and sociocultural implications. Information, Communication & Society. ISSN 1369-118X. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2019.1572771. Full text in Research Archive
  • Rustad, Gry Cecilie & Krüger, Steffen (2019). Coping with Shame in a Media-saturated Society: Norwegian Web-series Skam as Transitional Object. Television & New Media. ISSN 1527-4764. 20(1), p. 72–95. doi: 10.1177/1527476417741379. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2019). The authoritarian dimension in digital self-tracking: containment, commodification, subjugation. In King, Vera; Gerisch, Benigna & Rosa, Hartmut (Ed.), Lost in Perfection - Impact of Optimisation on Culture and Psyche. Routledge. ISSN 9781138894365. p. 85–104. doi: 10.4324/9781315179964-7. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2018). Facing Fanon: Examining Neocolonial Aspects in Grand Theft Auto V through the Prism of the Machinima Film Finding Fanon II. Open Library of Humanities. 4(1), p. 1–31. doi: 10.16995/olh.177. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2018). Violence and the Virtual. In Krüger, Steffen; Figlio, Karl & Richards, Barry (Ed.), Fomenting Political Violence - Fantasy, Language, Media, Action. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783319975047. p. 75–102. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-97505-4_5. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen; Figlio, Karl & Richards, Barry (2018). Fomenting Political Violence - An Introduction. In Krüger, Steffen; Figlio, Karl & Richards, Barry (Ed.), Fomenting Political Violence - Fantasy, Language, Media, Action. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783319975047. p. 1–16. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-97505-4_1. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2017). Unable to mourn again? Media(ted) Reactions to German Neo-Nazi Terrorism. In Auestad, Lene (Eds.), Shared Traumas, Silent Loss, Public and Private Mourning. Karnac Books. ISSN 9781780491615. p. 59–76. doi: 10.4324/9780429480126-5. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2017). Dropping Depth Hermeneutics into Psychosocial Studies – a Lorenzerian perspective. Journal of Psychosocial Studies. 10(1), p. 47–66. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2016). Virtuelle Gewalt – „Nein zum Heim“ Facebook-Seiten und die Entstehung politischer Gewalt. PSYCHOANALYSE · Texte zur Sozialforschung. ISSN 1615-8393. 2016(2), p. 147–167. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2016). Understanding affective labor online: a depth-hermeneutic reading of the My 22nd of July webpage. Ephemera : Theory and Politics in Organization. ISSN 2052-1499. 16(4), p. 185–208. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Johanssen, Jacob (2016). Thinking (with) the Unconscious in Media and Communication Studies. CM: Communication and Media. ISSN 2466-541X. 11(38), p. 2–35. doi: 10.5937/comman11-13131. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2015). Abschied mit Humor – die Rolle des Komischen im Trauern. In Haarmann, Hermann; Bormuth, Matthias & Schmieder, Falko (Ed.), "Um Abschied geht es ja nun." Exil und kein Ende. Tectum. ISSN 9783828835276. p. 23–40. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2015). Pseudonyms in Online Discussion Forums: A Psychosocial Approach. Seachange: Art, Communication, Technology. 2015(1), p. 23–50. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Johanssen, Jacob (2014). Alienation and Digital Labour - A Depth-Hermeneutic Inquiry into Online Commodification and the Unconscious. tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique. 12(2), p. 632–647. doi: 10.31269/triplec.v12i2.548. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2014). The legend of the artist: Family romance and Führer Myth. American Imago. ISSN 0065-860X. 71(1), p. 29–51. doi: 10.1353/aim.2014.0006. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2014). Tiefenhermeneutische Zugänge zur digitalen Moderne. In Rohr, Elisabeth (Eds.), Inszenierungen des Unbewussten in der Moderne. Tectum. ISSN 9783205788966. p. 73–100. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2013). "How far can I make my fingers stretch? – A response to Vivian Sobchack". Free Associations. ISSN 0267-0887. p. 104–131. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2013). Die "Legende vom Künstler" als Propagandastrategie. In Krüger, Steffen & Röske, Thomas (Ed.), Im Dienste des Ich. Ernst Kris heute. Böhlau. ISSN 9783205788966. p. 99–117. doi: 10.30965/9783846752425_013. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen; Davidoff, Jonathan & Auestad, Lene (2013). “Introducing Psychoanalysis and Politics – a conversation with Lene Auestad and Jonathan Davidoff”. Journal of Psychosocial Studies. 7(1), p. 31–53. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2012). Fresh Brains: Jacques Lacan’s Critique of Ernst Kris’s Psychoanalytic Method in the Context of Kris’s Theoretical Writings. American Imago. ISSN 0065-860X. 69(4), p. 507–542. doi: 10.1353/aim.2012.0023. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

View all works in NVA

  • Krüger, Steffen (2025). Lacan, Kris and the Psychoanalytic Legacy: The Brain Eater. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. ISSN 1088-0763. doi: 10.1057/s41282-025-00527-y. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2021). «There is no sexual relatonship» - I’m your man – Ich bin Dein Mensch (Schrader 2021) and the question of desire. Kateksis : Bulleteng for Norsk psykoanalytisk forening. 2021(2), p. 34–43. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2020). Steffen Krüger - Um Olhar Germano-Nórdico sobre as Mídias Digitais, as Interaçoes Psicossociais e as Culturas de Tela. [Journal]. Movendo Ideias. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2019). Goatse & tubgirl - mannlige online-subkulturer og deres hatobjekter. Arr - Idéhistorisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7005. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2019). It's over / It never began - Aggressive Akte der Selbst- und Fremdstigmatisierung in männlichen Internet-Subkulturen. Psyche - Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse und ihre Anwendungen. ISSN 0033-2623. doi: 10.21706/ps-73-9-771. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Bhroin, Niamh Ni (2019). Vital Signs: Datafication and Inequality in Self-Tracking Health Insurance Deals. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Bhroin, Niamh Ni (2019). Your Health is Our Wealth: Self-tracking health insurance deals, privacy and the erosion of solidarity. In Fieschi, Catherine & Grabbe, Heather (Ed.), The European Way of Digital: How to make tech work for Open Societies in Europe. European Policy Institute. ISSN 9781999961121. p. 51–60. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2018). Plattformede Steder. Plan - tidsskrift for samfunnsplanlegging, regional- og byutvikling. ISSN 0805-083X. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2017). Critical theory of communication by Christian Fuchs, 2016. Information, Communication & Society. ISSN 1369-118X. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2017). Barbarous Hordes, Brutal Elites’ – The Traumatic Structure of Right-Wing Populism. E-flux Journal. ISSN 2164-1625. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2017). Social Media Abyss by Geert Lovink, 2016. Information, Communication & Society. ISSN 1369-118X. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2017). Social Science Methods for Psychodynamic Inquiry: The Unconscious on the World Scene. William R. Meyers. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave MacMillan, 2015. 253 pp. American Imago. ISSN 0065-860X. 74(2), p. 248–257. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen (2016). Respect, Plurality, and Prejudice. A psychoanalytical and philosophical enquiry into the dynamics of social exclusion and discrimination av Lene Auestad, Steffen Krüger. Matrix. Nordisk Tidsskrift for Psykoterapi. ISSN 0109-646X. 33(2), p. 95–98. Full text in Research Archive
  • Krüger, Steffen & Röske, Thomas (2013). Einleitung. In Krüger, Steffen & Röske, Thomas (Ed.), Im Dienste des Ich. Ernst Kris heute. Böhlau. ISSN 9783205788966. p. 13–18. Full text in Research Archive
  • Nicholas, Hanna Marie & Krüger, Steffen (2021). #Wearadamnmask: A Textual Analysis of Citizen-Led Surveillance and Digitally Mediated Shaming During the Coronavirus Pandemic. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

Published Aug. 26, 2014 2:44 PM - Last modified Aug. 13, 2019 1:21 PM

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