Introduction to the Special Issue on the Death, Afterlife, and….docx

Introduction to the Special Issue on the Death, Afterlife, and….docx

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IntroductiontotheSpecialIssueontheDeath,Afterlife,andImmortalityofBodiesandData

ConnorGraham

TemhusuCollegeandAsiaResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofSingapore,Singapore

MartinGibbs

DepartmentofComputingandInformationSystems,TheUniversityofMelbourne,Melbourne,Australia

LanfrancoAceti

FacultyofArtsandSocialSciences,SabanciUniversity,Istanbul,TurkeyandDepartment

UnitedKingdom

ofComputing,Goldsmiths,UniversityofLondon,London,

Thisspecialissueposesquestionsconcerningdeath,afterlifeandimmortalityintheageoftheInternet.Itextendspreviousworkbyexaminingcurrentandemergingpracticesofgrievingandmemorializingsupportedbynewmedia.Itsuggeststhatpeople’slivestodayareextended,prolonged,andultimatelytransformedthroughthenewcirculations,repetitions,andrecontextualizationsontheInternetandotherplatforms.Italsoshowsthatpublicsarebeingformedandconnectedwithinnewways,andnewpracticesandritualsareemerging,asthetraditionalnotionsofthebodyarebeingchallenged.Wearguethatthesedevelopmentshaveimplicationsforhowpeoplewillbediscoveredandconceivedofinthefuture.Weconsiderpossibleextensionstotheresearchpresentedhereintermsofpeople,practices,anddata.First,somesectionsofthepopulation,inparticularthosewhoarethedyingandpopulationsindevelopingcountriesandtheGlobalSouth,havelargelybeenneglectedtodate.Second,practicessuchas（online）suicideandsacrilegiousorprofanebehaviorsremainlargelyuninvestigated.Third,thediscussionofthemanagementofthedigitalselfafterdeathhasonlybegun.Weconcludebyposingfurtherquestionsconcerningtheprospectofemergingcitiesofthedead.

Keywords（after-）death,theInternet,hybridization,publics,rituals,historicization

©ConnorGraham,MartinGibbs,andLanfrancoAceti

AddresscorrespondencetoConnorGraham,TembusuCollege,NationalUniversityofSingapore,28CollegeAvenueEast,#B1-O1,Singapore138598.E-mail:

onecalledconnor@nus.edu.sg

Whatisdeathinaneraofubiquitousandencroachingdigitallife?

Whatisafterlifeinanageofmassdigitalproductionandconsumption?

Whatisimmortalityinatimeofthedigitalcelebrityandthedigitalmob?

Inthisspecialissue,contributingauthorsengagewithsuchquestions,andtheiranalysissuggeststhatnewtechnologies,specificallytheInternet,changethewaydeathandafter-deathareexperienced,performed,anddiscovered.

Theexistingresearchhasfocusedheavilyononlinememorials,inparticularonthecontentofthesesites（e.g.,deVriesandRutherford2004;Jones2004;Footetal.2005）andthegrievingprocessesoftheirusers（e.g.,Sofka1997;Veale2003）.Morerecently,attentionhasturnedtosocialnetworksiteswithparticularfocusonthepracticesandmeaningsofonlinememorializingbyteenagers（CarrollandLandry2010;WilliamsandMerten2009）.Ingeneralthisresearchhastendedtobeconnectedwithawiderliteratureinthesocialsciencesthatexaminesdeath,grieving,andmemorialization（e.g.,HallamandHockey2001;Hockey,Woodthorpe,andKomaromy2010;MetcalfandHuntington1991）.

Thearticlesinthisspecialissueadvanceworkontheconceptof（after-）death1throughaseriesofcontrastinganalysesofcurrentandemergingpracticesofgrievingandmemorializingonline.Theyshowthat,evenafterdeath,people’slivesareextended,prolonged,andultimatelychangedinthepresent,future,andinhistorythroughnewcirculations,repetitions,andrecontextualizationstothevariouslyconstitutedpublics（Warner2002,66）“thatcomeintobeingonlyinrelationtotextsandtheircirculation.”Thesefindingsarediscussedinthefollowingintermsofbodiesandhybridization,constitutingpublics,newpracticesandrituals,andexcavationandhistoriciza-tion.

BODIESANDHYBRIDIZATION

Fromthebeginning,discourseinpopularmediasteeredustowardagrowingsenseofanotherself,anotionofaselfthatisdigitallydistributedacrosstextmessages,Webpages,socialnetworkingsites,blogcomments,andsoon:

adigitalself.Aroundthetimethattheproposalwasconceived,inTimemagazineFaure（2009）suggestedthatthecapacityofinformationandcommunicationtechnologies（ICTs）raisedimportantquestionsregardinglegacyandcuration:

“Aspeoplespendmoretimeatkeyboards,there’slessbeingstoredawayindustyatticsforfamilyandfriendstohangonto”（online）.ButFaurewentfurtherthansimplydescribingconcernsaboutarchivingandstoragetoaskaquestionthatsuggestedsomeanxietyandevenresentmentaboutaburgeoningandenduringself:

“ThepiecesofourlivesthatweputonlinecanfeelaseternalastheInternetitself,butwhathappenstoourvirtualidentityafterwedie?

”（online）.Bollmer（2013）,inthisissue,suggeststhatthistensionbet