The subversion of subversion: Critique unto infinity in the ‘social’ media

The contemporary proliferation of subversion and critique is examined here through a digital ethnography of feminist and anti-feminist strands of social media platforms. Within these liminal spaces there are no limits to subversion nor to critique; instead, each accusation, counter-critique and satire imitatively provokes an escalation of the schism. Drawing on anthropological theories of liminality, schismogenesis, trickster and alchemy, the chapter explores the experience, language and discursive turns of subversion, particularly how negativity, suffering and illusion are emphasised. As critique is infinite and subversion is subverted, any attempt to rethink critique or subversion, or any ‘critique of critique’ is a dead end. Therefore, this article concludes by suggesting that it has become necessary to understand - and even to forgive - critique and subversion as products of a liminal void.