How do the dead live among us today?
Approaching death from the perspective of media and communication studies, anthropology, and sociology, this book explains how the all-encompassing presence of mediated death profoundly transforms contemporary society. It explores rituals of mourning and the livestreaming of death in hybrid media, as well as contemporary media-driven practices of immortalization. Sumiala draws on examples ranging from the iconic deaths of Margaret Thatcher and David Bowie to those of ordinary people ritualized on Instagram, You Tube, Twitter and Facebook. In addition, this book examines digital mourning of global events including the Charlie Hebdo attacks, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Coronavirus pandemic.
Mediated Death is a must-read for scholars and students of communication studies, as well as general readers interested in exploring the meaning of mediated death in contemporary society.
Table of Content
Preface
1 Mediating Death
2 A Brief History of an Idea
3 The Event of Death
4 Rethinking Mourning Rituals
5 Ritual Contestations
6 Rituals Connect and Separate
7 The Quest for Post-Mortality
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Johanna Sumiala is Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies at the University of Helsinki.
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