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Death Online in Contemporary Russia Memory, Forgetting and the Connective Presence of Mourning on the Internet

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Death Online in Contemporary Russia Memory, Forgetting and the Connective Presence of Mourning on the Internet Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis Uppsala Studies in Media and Communication 17 Death Online in Contemporary Russia Memory, Forgetting and the Connective Presence of Mourning on the Internet Katerina Linden Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Lecture Hall 2, Ekonomikum, Kyrkogardsgatan̊ 10, Uppsala, Friday, 23 April 2021 at 13:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: Anna Reading (King's College London). Abstract Linden, K. 2021. Death Online in Contemporary Russia. Memory, Forgetting and the Connective Presence of Mourning on the Internet. Uppsala Studies in Media and Communication 17. 153 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-513-1151-7. This dissertation explores the ways in which online technologies transform communal commemoration and grief practices in the Russian-speaking world, and what the existential implications of these changes are for individuals and society. This aim is rooted in the theoretical framework of existential media studies complemented by digital memory studies and death online studies. Expanding upon the Heideggerian concept of presence, I develop the analytical concept of connective presence online. Emphasising that in Russia this terrain is best described in terms of political existence, I argue that connective presence modifies the ubiquitous politics of default amnesia in the nation. The communal aspects of memorialising the dead online are approached through analyses of three memorial websites, dedicated to different themes: the Soviet repressions, the Nord-Ost siege, and the contemporary social networking sites. The overarching methodological approach of virtual ethnography combines long-term observations with socio-historical and cultural contextualisations. The analytical part is a cultural analysis consisting of close readings of the websites’ materials, and a thematic analysis of the contents and practices. This dissertation demonstrates that online technologies enable communal commemoration, contributing to how bereaved seek, lose or achieve a sense of ‘existential security’. It highlights three overarching themes of connective presence online: between the living and the dead, between the mourners, and as motivation for action. The research finds that Russian political memory culture is potentially challenged by digitalisation through bringing back the virtue of remembering, by leading to the appearance of reconnected presence, and with its potential for resolving existential struggles of mourners. This study proposes that in the Russian-speaking world the post-scarcity digital memory culture is not necessarily a problem that needs to be solved through the right to be forgotten, but a source of mending the broken memory culture as the difficulties to forget in the digital environment can seriously alter the current political memory work. It suggests that connective presence could be interpreted as a version of Heidegger’s authentic Dasein for the digital age, as caring for each other in a mutual experience of shared vulnerability, and as a result aiming at resolving bigger politico-existential issues in the Russian Federation. Keywords: existential media studies, virtual ethnography, death online, digital memory studies, connective presence, Dasein, default amnesia Katerina Linden, Department of Informatics and Media, Media and Communication Studies, Kyrkogårdsg. 10, Uppsala University, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden. © Katerina Linden 2021 ISSN 1651-4777 ISBN 978-91-513-1151-7 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-430178 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-430178) In memory of my grandmother, Nata Contents 1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 11 1.1 Death going digital. Studying the internet existentially .................. 12 1.2 Research problem, purpose and research questions ........................ 15 1.3 Historical background. Death in Russian media culture ................. 19 1.3.1 Broken memory culture. Death and mourning in Russia ....... 19 1.3.2 Knowledge is power. Access to information and censorship of memory in Russia ............................................................................ 22 1.3.3 Runet. Temporary heaven of freedom for Russian speakers ... 24 1.4 Research background. From the utopian global village to social media and mourning online ...................................................................... 26 2 Theory .................................................................................................. 31 2.1 Existential media studies ................................................................. 32 2.2 Digital memory studies ................................................................... 35 2.3 Conceptualising my approach ......................................................... 39 2.3.1 Descriptive concepts .............................................................. 39 2.3.2 Connective presence. Analytical concept and philosophical context ........................................................................... 41 3 Methodology, analytical methods, materials, and ethics ..................... 45 3.1 Phenomenological hermeneutics. Onto-epistemological foundations ............................................................................................... 45 3.2 Virtual ethnography as cultural analysis of death online. My main methodological approach ................................................................ 47 3.2.1 Inspiration from discourse analysis and semiotics ................. 49 3.2.2 Cultural contextualisation ...................................................... 50 3.2.3 Historical contextualisation ................................................... 50 3.2.4 Thematic analysis .................................................................. 52 3.3 The research process. Online fieldwork and thematic analysis ...... 52 3.3.1 Entering the field and collecting materials ............................ 52 3.3.2 Online fieldwork .................................................................... 56 3.3.3 The process of the thematic analysis ..................................... 58 3.4 Ethics and self-reflexivity ............................................................... 59 3.4.1 Limitations and possibilities of the approach ........................ 64 4 Case studies ......................................................................................... 67 4.1 Last Address .................................................................................... 67 4.1.1 Introduction. Repressed death ................................................ 68 4.1.2 Historical background. A dense silence of memories ............ 6 9 4.1.3 Last Address. The website ..................................................... 71 4.1.4 Memorial materials. ‘That’s what the times were like…’ ..... 74 4.1.5 Secondary materials. War and fear ........................................ 77 4.1.6 Discussion. Existential meaning-making online .................... 82 4.2 Nord-Ost ......................................................................................... 86 4.2.1 Introduction. Digital Exile ..................................................... 86 4.2.2 Historical background. Mediating the tragedy ....................... 87 4.2.3 Nord-Ost. The website ........................................................... 89 4.2.4 Memorial materials. Learning to mourn online ..................... 90 4.2.5 Secondary materials. Who is to blame? ................................. 96 4.2.6 Discussion. Forgetting the national trauma – Personalising the loss online .................................................................................... 101 4.3 Forever with Us ............................................................................. 104 4.3.1 Introduction. Continuing bonds of mourning ...................... 104 4.3.2 Historical background. Online memorials as social networks ............................................................................................. 106 4.3.3 Forever with Us. The website .............................................. 108 4.3.4 Memorial materials. Mourning and gifting .......................... 110 4.3.5 Secondary materials. Digital vulnerability of grief .............. 114 4.3.6 Discussion. The soothing comfort of connective presence .. 116 5 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 121 5.1 Thematic analysis. Findings .......................................................... 123 5.1.1 Theme 1. Connective presence between the living and the dead: The mourner talking to the dead .............................................. 124 5.1.2 Theme 2. Connective presence between the living: The mourner talking to others ............................................................ 125 5.1.3 Theme 3. Connective presence motivates action: Mourners acting together ................................................................... 125 5.1.4 Connective presence as Dasein ............................................ 126 5.2 Answering my research questions ................................................. 128 5.3 Concluding discussion. What has been said, and what can be said in the future ..................................................................................... 132 Bibliography ..............................................................................................
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