DOCSLIB.ORG

Online Mourning

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Online Mourning “IT’S DIFFICULT, DON’T TALK ABOUT IT, COMPLICATED AND A CHORE ” A comparison on the occurrence of death taboo between online forums for bereavement after suicide or loss of a partner Thesis Linguistics and Communication Sciences Supervisor: Enny Das Date: 18-08-2020 Tamara van Seggelen S4416821 Index 0.0 Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. 4 1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Terminological clarification .......................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Support groups .............................................................................................................................. 7 1.2.1 Forum on depression .............................................................................................................. 9 1.2.2 Mourning online ................................................................................................................... 16 1.3 (Online) mourning after a ‘different death’ ................................................................................. 19 1.4 Research aims .............................................................................................................................. 22 2. Methods ............................................................................................................................................. 23 2.1 Materials ...................................................................................................................................... 23 2.2 Selection ...................................................................................................................................... 24 2.3 Procedure ..................................................................................................................................... 25 2.3 Ethical considerations .................................................................................................................. 28 3.0 Results ............................................................................................................................................. 28 3.1 Top-down analysis ...................................................................................................................... 29 3.1.1 Findings in posts ................................................................................................................... 31 3.1.2 Findings in responses ........................................................................................................... 32 3.2 Discussion ................................................................................................................................... 34 3.2.1 Death taboo ........................................................................................................................... 35 3.2.2 The forum’s technicalities .................................................................................................... 35 3.2.3 Relationship to the deceased ................................................................................................ 37 3.2.4 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 37 3.3 Bottom-up analysis ...................................................................................................................... 38 3.3.1 Support or empathy .............................................................................................................. 41 3.3.2 Providing information or advice ........................................................................................... 42 3.3.3 Disruption of one’s biographical narrative ........................................................................... 43 3.3.4 Losing a loved one................................................................................................................ 44 3.3.5 Nuance .................................................................................................................................. 45 3.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................................... 45 3.4.1 Providing support and advice ............................................................................................... 46 3.4.2 Disruption of one’s biographical narrative ........................................................................... 46 3.4.3 Losing a loved one................................................................................................................ 47 3.4.4 Nuance .................................................................................................................................. 48 3.4.5 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 49 4. General conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 49 2 4.1 Theoretical implications .............................................................................................................. 50 4.2 Methodological implications ....................................................................................................... 52 4.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 53 References ............................................................................................................................................. 54 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 60 A: Codebook bereavement forum ..................................................................................................... 60 3 0.0 Abstract The present paper integrated concepts and methods from death studies, discursive psychology, and communication sciences to provide an interdisciplinary perspective on the matter of online mourning. Previous research on online communities in mourning found that these were not that different from offline communities, in the sense that both help form communal bonds. In the case of online mourning after suicide specifically, studies show contradictions and inconsistencies, however. Combining concepts and methods from death studies, discursive psychology, and communication sciences, two descriptive analysis were conducted on a social media forum for grieving after suicide and for grieving after the loss of a partner. A top-down analysis, based on identified topics by Malik and Coulson (2010) and Pawelzyk (2013), showed that users interact differently on both forums. These differences may be explained by the different cause of death, the relationship to the deceased, and the introduction at the top of the forum. A bottom-up analysis, unbiased by prior categories but influenced by notions from discursive psychology, complemented the top-down analysis to disambiguate problematic categorisations, such as dividing the broad notion ‘requesting information or advice’ into separate the question categories ‘asking to relate’, ‘request for empathy’, ‘how are you?’, and ‘request for information’, and to define utterances that did not fit in any pre-existing category, such as describing negative traits of the deceased. 1.0 Introduction Society’s perspective on death has changed over the years. Aries (1981) described how a death affected a whole community during the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century and was banished from the community at the beginning of World War 1. Religion and belief in an afterlife, which often helped people to face death, made way for the medicalisation of death. Doctors felt they had failed if a patient died and death itself became a taboo. In the 1960s, sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrist, and journalists started to defy this taboo by talking about it. Aries argued, however, that even though intellectuals talked about death, the subject was still taboo in the rest of society. In the late twentieth century, the understanding of death in a medical way became replaced by a psychological understanding (Walter, 1991; 1994). Bereaved people were encouraged to talk to counsellors and therapists, which ‘conveniently’ kept grief and death out of everyday life. At the same time, death became increasingly shaped by the dying and bereaved themselves, suggesting they feel freer to talk about the subject. Lee (2008) argues research into death and dying as well as public discussions about the subjects has grown in this time due to the emergence of parapsychology 4 and New Age emphasis on reincarnation, making death no longer meaningless and more accepted to openly discuss. He even goes as far as to say death taboo has been attenuated or even nullified. People still write about the death taboo, however, such as Crampton in The Times (2012): “for most of us the prospect of death is ameliorated neither by familiarity nor by religion”. He argues it is quite rational to avoid talking about death, a view that is in line with research on Terror Management Theory which proposes that people have
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Virtual Homage to the Dead: an Analysis of Digital Memorials in the Social Web
    Virtual Homage to the Dead: An Analysis of Digital Memorials in the Social Web Aron Daniel Lopes, Cristiano Maciel, and Vinicius Carvalho Pereira Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT) Laboratório de Ambientes Virtuais Interativos (LAVI) Av. Fernando Corrêa da Costa, nº2367 - Cuiabá/MT - Brazil -78060-000 [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Abstract. Considering that many real-world cultural practices are now migrating to virtual environments, the expression of mourning and bereavement is also being imported to the virtual world, by means of the so-called digital memorials, supported by increasingly new and complex technologies. In this paper, we undertake a literature review on real and digital memorials, as well as social networks. Then, through empirical observation of digital memorials in Brazil, we investigate if they have characteristics of the social web. Next, by means of an interaction test and a questionnaire, we analyze how users feel when interacting with digital memorials and their evaluation on the functionalities of those applications. Finally, we approach the difficulties found when studying this kind of tools and our perspectives for future works. Keywords: digital memorials, social web, social networks, death. 1 Introduction In modern societies, digital technologies are increasingly embedded in our daily activities, thus changing the way we see the world and act upon it. That leads real- world social practices to migrate into virtual environments and acquire new meanings, including cultural expressions triggered by someone’s death. Death is an unavoidable event which entails both sacred and profane rites, most often performed by bereaved people. Among those rites, we can find wakes, funerals, burials, requiem masses, prayers and the building of memorials.
    [Show full text]
  • Magisterarbeit/ Master's Thesis
    MAGISTERARBEIT/ MASTER’S THESIS Titel der Magisterarbeit/ Title of the Master‘s Thesis „Web Memorials in the German Speaking Area“ Demographics and Temporal Patterns of Communication verfasst von/ submitted by Alexandra Lux, Bakk.phil. angestrebter akademischer Grad/ in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Magistra der Philosophie, (Mag. phil.) Wien/ Vienna, 2017 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt/ Degree programme code as it appears on A 066 841 the student record sheet: Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt/ Degree programme as it appears on Magisterstudium Publizistik- und the student record sheet: Kommunikationswissenschaft Betreut von/ Supervisor: Univ.- Prof- Dr. Homero Gil de Zúñiga, PhD !2 Declaration of Authorship I hereby declare that the thesis submitted is my own unaided work. All direct or indirect sources used are acknowledged as references. I am aware that the thesis in digital form can be examined for the use of unauthorized aid and in order to determine whether the thesis as a whole or parts incorporated in it may be deemed as plagiarism. For the comparison of my work with exist- ing sources I agree that it shall be entered in a database where it shall also remain after examination, to enable comparison with future theses submitted. Further rights of reproduction and usage, however, are not granted here. This paper was not previously presented to another examination board and has not been published. Vienna, 2017 !3 !4 Acknowledgment At this point I want to thank the people that supported me (in all the various ways) through my studies and with whom this would not have been possible. First, of course my parents, Andrea and Reinmut.
    [Show full text]
  • Being a Michael Jackson Pilgrim: Dedicated to a Never-Ending Journey
    UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN Being a Michael Jackson Pilgrim: dedicated to a never-ending journey S2054620 9/15/2015 Fardo Ine Eringa Master thesis Religion and the Public Domain, Faculty of Religious Studies First supervisor: dr. Mathilde van Dijk Second supervisor: dr. Kristin McGee “Heal the world Make it a better place For you and for me And the entire human race There are people dying If you care enough for the living Make a better place For you and for me.” ‘Heal The World’, Michael Jackson (1991) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research has been made possible through invaluable input and support by several individuals. I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have guided me through the writing process of this thesis. First of all, I would like to thank Mathilde van Dijk, who has supported and motivated me both with her broad knowledge in the field of pilgrimage research and with her enthusiasm. During the writing process dr. Van Dijk helped me to structure my study and supported me with extensive feedback. I very much enjoyed our collaboration and it is our personal meetings and dr. Van Dijk’s thorough feedback that have made this study to the best possible outcome. I would also like to thank Kristin McGee, who has been a wonderful second supervisor and has provided me with helpful information in the field of popular culture. Moreover, dr. McGee has provided me with valid feedback both regarding the content of my study and my English. Furthermore, I would like to thank my family for the many brainstorm sessions and their assistance through personal feedback and support during the finalizing of this research.
    [Show full text]
  • This Too Shall Pass: Mourning Collective Loss in the Time
    THIS TOO SHALL PASS Mourning collective loss in the time of Covid-19 Alex Evans, Casper ter Kuile and Ivor Williams 2 This Too Shall Pass Mourning collective loss in the time of Covid-19 About the authors Alex Evans is founder of the Collective Psychology Project. He is a Senior Fel- low at New York University, and the author of The Myth Gap: What Happens When Evidence and Arguments Aren’t Enough? (Penguin, 2017), a book about the power of deep shared stories to unlock social and political change. He is a former Cam- paign Director of the 50 million member global citizen’s movement Avaaz, spe- cial adviser to two UK Cabinet Ministers, and climate expert in the UN Secre- tary-General’s office. Casper ter Kuile is the co-founder of Sacred Design Lab, a research and design consultancy working to create a culture of belonging and becoming, and is a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School. He’s the author of The Power of Ritual (HarperCollins, 2020), which demonstrates how everyday habits can become soulful practices that create meaning, connection and joy. Casper co-hosts the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text and previously co-founded activist training organization Campaign Bootcamp and the UK Youth Climate Coalition. Ivor Williams is a designer, developing new ways of thinking about and ex- periencing dying, death and loss in the 21st century. He leads the End-of-Life Care group at the Institute of Global Health Innovation within Imperial College London. He is a visiting lecturer at Imperial College London, and was visiting professor of Information Design at the University of Venice from 2014–2016.
    [Show full text]
  • Media and Death: Representation and Performance of Dying and Mourning in a Mediatized Age
    SUOMALAISEN KUOLEMANTUTKIMUKSEN SEURA RY. FALL 2013 THANATOS vol. 2 2/2013 THEME ISSUE Media and Death: Representation and performance of dying and mourning in a mediatized age Editorial Board: Contents Editors-in-chief: Introduction: Sumiala, Johanna & Hakola, Outi: Introduction: Media and Johanna Sumiala Death, p. 3–7. Outi Hakola Editorial board: Articles: Lagerkvist, Amanda: New Memory Cultures and Death: Ilona Pajari Existential Security in the Digital Memory Ecology, p. 8–24. Kirsi Kanerva Meis, Mareke: Mobile Death Videos in Protest Movements: Kaarina Koski Cases from Iran and Syria, p. 25–42. Anna Haverinen Weber, Tina: Old Folks Never Die on TV: Representations of Corpses on American TV shows in the 21st Century, Layout: p. 43–55. Anna Haverinen Hakola, Outi: Normal Death on Television: Balancing Privacy and Voyeurism, p. 56–71. Interview: Haverinen, Anna: On Death & Media: Interview with Tony Walter, Centre for Death & Society, University of Bath, p. 72–74. www.thanatos-journal.com, ISSN 2242-6280 SUOMALAISEN KUOLEMANTUTKIMUKSEN SEURA RY. FALL 2013 The Finnish Death Studies Association The Finnish Death Studies Association (FDSA) was founded March 28th 2011 in Helsinki by scholars interested in the field of thanatological research. The aim was to create an organization that could create a more public interdisciplinary dialogue about death and dying in Finnish society. The purpose of the association is also to advance the domestic death studies and professional education, create synergy between Finnish and international professionals and researchers, and last but not least, to promote discussion about researching, studying and working in the field of death and bereavement research. With the website (www.kuolemantutkimus.com) and open access online journal (www.thanatos.-journal.com) the association wishes to provide information about future events both in Finland and abroad, publish articles, book reviews, research reports and other texts concerning the vast and colorful field of death.
    [Show full text]
  • Egnoto Et Al 2014.Pdf
    OMEGA, Vol. 69(3) 283-304, 2014 DEATH ON THE DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INTO THE GRIEF PROCESS AND MOTIVATIONS BEHIND PARTICIPATION IN THE ONLINE MEMORIAM MICHAEL J. EGNOTO, PH.D. Student JOSEPH M. SIRIANNI, PH.D. Student CHRISTOPHER R. ORTEGA, PH.D. Student MICHAEL STEFANONE, PH.D. Uni ver sity at Buf falo ABSTRACT Increasingly, individuals are bonding and maintaining relationships online. These digital representations of ourselves allow us to connect with others in ways previously not possible. One behavior that is growing in online presentations of self is grieving after the death of an individual in our social network. This work investigates the outcomes of online grieving from a transcorporeal communication model perspective, and draws conclusions on the outcomes of online grief behaviors. All humans face loss and death. We face the loss of friends, family, partners, co-workers, and, eventually, we face our own transition from living to dead. In general, we hope that the transition away from life is after years of meaningful relationships and good living—however, this is not always the case. In the United States, roughly 50 out of 100,000 teens die every year. In other words, the death rate of teens can be represented as 1 out of 2,000 adolescents in the United States, 283 Ó 2014, Baywood Publish ing Co., Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/OM.69.3.d http://baywood.com 284 / EGNOTO ET AL. or are slightly better than drawing a straight flush in a game of poker. Half of those deaths come from unintentional injuries, with the majority of the remaining deaths being comprised of suicides, homicides, and health complications (CDC.gov, retrieved August 2, 2012).
    [Show full text]
  • Placing Notes in the Virtual “Western Wall”: Online Memorial Culture in Chinese Social Media
    The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Master's Projects and Capstones Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects Spring 5-2020 Placing Notes in the Virtual “Western Wall”: Online Memorial Culture in Chinese Social Media Xiaoyu Zhang [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone Part of the Chinese Studies Commons, Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Community-Based Research Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the Social Media Commons Recommended Citation Zhang, Xiaoyu, "Placing Notes in the Virtual “Western Wall”: Online Memorial Culture in Chinese Social Media" (2020). Master's Projects and Capstones. 1032. https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/1032 This Project/Capstone is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Projects and Capstones by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Placing Notes in the Virtual “Western Wall”: Online Memorial Culture in Chinese Social Media Xiaoyu (Jennifer) Zhang Capstone Project, M.A. in Asia Pacific Studies Professor Genevieve Leung University of San Francisco Zhang 1 Abstract Each society has a unique way of understanding death and coping with mourning.
    [Show full text]
  • Suspicious Perinatal Death and the Law: Criminalising Mothers Who Do Not Conform
    Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Milne, Emma (2017) Suspicious perinatal death and the law: criminalising mothers who do not conform. PhD thesis, University of Essex. [Thesis] Final accepted version (with author’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/22816/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. Works, including theses and research projects, may not be reproduced in any format or medium, or extensive quotations taken from them, or their content changed in any way, without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). They may not be sold or exploited commercially in any format or medium without the prior written permission of the copyright holder(s). Full bibliographic details must be given when referring to, or quoting from full items including the author’s name, the title of the work, publication details where relevant (place, publisher, date), pag- ination, and for theses or dissertations the awarding institution, the degree type awarded, and the date of the award. If you believe that any material held in the repository infringes copyright law, please contact the Repository Team at Middlesex University via the following email address: [email protected] The item will be removed from the repository while any claim is being investigated.
    [Show full text]
  • Does the Internet Change How We Die and Mourn? Overview and Analysis
    OMEGA, Vol. 64(4) 275-302, 2011-2012 DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE HOW WE DIE AND MOURN? OVERVIEW AND ANALYSIS TONY WALTER RACHID HOURIZI University of Bath WENDY MONCUR University of Dundee STACEY PITSILLIDES Goldsmiths College, University of London ABSTRACT The article outlines the issues that the internet presents to death studies. Part 1 describes a range of online practices that may affect dying, the funeral, grief and memorialization, inheritance and archaeology; it also summarizes the kinds of research that have been done in these fields. Part 2 argues that these new online practices have implications for, and may be illuminated by, key concepts in death studies: the sequestration (or separation from everyday life) of death and dying, disenfranchisement of grief, private grief, social death, illness and grief narratives, continuing bonds with the dead, and the presence of the dead in society. In particular, social network sites can bring dying and grieving out of both the private and public realms and into the everyday life of social networks beyond the immediate family, and provide an audience for once private communications with the dead. 275 Ó 2012, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/OM.64.4.a http://baywood.com 276 / WALTER ET AL. INTRODUCTION Death is irreducibly physical, but it is also social. Getting frail or terminally ill and then dying disrupts social networks; bereavement entails a restructuring of social engagement, with both the living and the dead. The internet is also, and increasingly, social, so much so that the term “social networks” is nowadays as likely taken to include online as well as offline networks.
    [Show full text]
  • Infanticide in Tudor and Stuart England
    GENDERING THE LATE MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN WORLD Billingham Infanticide in Tudor and Stuart EnglandInfanticide in Tudor Josephine Billingham Infanticide in Tudor and Stuart England FOR PRIVATE AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS Infanticide in Tudor and Stuart England FOR PRIVATE AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS Gendering the Late Medieval and Early Modern World Series editors: James Daybell (Chair), Victoria E. Burke, Svante Norrhem, and Merry Wiesner-Hanks This series provides a forum for studies that investigate women, gender, and/ or sexuality in the late medieval and early modern world. The editors invite proposals for book-length studies of an interdisciplinary nature, including, but not exclusively, from the fields of history, literature, art and architectural history, and visual and material culture. Consideration will be given to both monographs and collections of essays. Chronologically, we welcome studies that look at the period between 1400 and 1700, with a focus on any part of the world, as well as comparative and global works. We invite proposals including, but not limited to, the following broad themes: methodologies, theories and meanings of gender; gender, power and political culture; monarchs, courts and power; constructions of femininity and masculinity; gift-giving, diplomacy and the politics of exchange; gender and the politics of early modern archives; gender and architectural spaces (courts, salons, household); consumption and material culture; objects and gendered power; women’s
    [Show full text]
  • Suspicious Perinatal Death and the Law: Criminalising Mothers Who Do Not Conform
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Middlesex University Research Repository Suspicious perinatal death and the law: criminalising mothers who do not conform Emma Milne A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology University of Essex 2017 Acknowledgements ii Acknowledgements There are a number of people who have made this PhD possible due to their impact on my life over the course of the period of doctoral study. I would like to take this opportunity to offer my thanks. First and foremost, my parents, Lesley and Nick Milne, for their constant love, friendship, care, commitment to my happiness, and determination that I will achieve my goals and fulfil my dreams. Secondly, Professor Jackie Turton for the decade of encouragement, support (emotional and academic) and friendship, and for persuading me to start the PhD process in the first place. To Professor Pete Fussey and Dr Karen Brennan, for their intellectual and academic support. A number of people have facilitated this PhD through their professional activity. I would like to offer my thanks to all the court clerks in England and Wales who assisted me with access to case files and transcripts – especially the two clerks who trawled through court listings and schedules in order to identify two confidentialised cases for me. Professor Sally Sheldon, and Dr Imogen Jones who provided advice in relation to theory. Ben Rosenbaum and Jason Attermann who helped me decipher the politics of abortion in the US. Michele Hall who has been a constant source of support, information and assistance.
    [Show full text]
  • Mourning Practices on Facebook: Facebook Shrines and Other Rituals of Grieving in the Digital Age
    Southern Methodist University SMU Scholar Anthropology Theses and Dissertations Anthropology Spring 2021 MOURNING PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK SHRINES AND OTHER RITUALS OF GRIEVING IN THE DIGITAL AGE Sydney Yeager [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_anthropology_etds Part of the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Yeager, Sydney, "MOURNING PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK SHRINES AND OTHER RITUALS OF GRIEVING IN THE DIGITAL AGE" (2021). Anthropology Theses and Dissertations. https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_anthropology_etds/15 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. MOURNING PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK SHRINES AND OTHER RITUALS OF GRIEVING IN THE DIGITAL AGE Approved by: _______________________________________ Dr. Caroline Brettell Professor and Chair, Anthropology ___________________________________ Dr. Nia Parson Associate Professor, Anthropology ___________________________________ Dr. Jill DeTemple Professor and Chair, Religious Studies ___________________________________ Prof. Phil Frana Associate Dean, Honors College, James Madison University MOURNING PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK SHRINES AND OTHER RITUALS OF GRIEVING IN THE DIGITAL AGE A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Faculty of the Dedman College Southern Methodist University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a Major in Cultural Anthropology by Sydney Yeager B.S., History, University of Central Arkansas Master of Arts in Medical Anthropology, Southern Methodist University May 15, 2021 Copyright (2020) Sydney Yeager All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Death comes to us all in time.
    [Show full text]