Johanna Sumiala - Mediated Death

1 Cover

2 Title Page MEDIATED DEATH Johanna Sumiala polity

3 Copyright Copyright © Johanna Sumiala 2022 The right of Johanna Sumiala to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2022 by Polity Press Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 101 Station Landing Suite 300 Medford, MA 02155, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4455-4 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Sumiala, Johanna, author. Title: Mediated death / Johanna Sumiala. Description: Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity Press, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A leading scholar’s robust analysis of the meaning of death in digital society”-- Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2021017654 (print) | LCCN 2021017655 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509544530 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509544547 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509544554 (epub) | ISBN 9781509550418 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Death--Social aspects. | Death in mass media. | Digital media--Social aspects. Classification: LCC HQ1073 .S86 2022 (print) | LCC HQ1073 (ebook) | DDC 306.9--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021017654 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021017655 The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

4 Preface

5 1 Mediating Death ‘Madness That Is Shared Is Not Madness’ The Problem of Mortality The Myth of Media Overcoming Death The Structure of the Book

6 2 A Brief History of an Idea Early Spectacles of Death Envisioning Death Death in Hybrid Media

7 3 The Event of Death Time of Death Events Spatial Endeavours Death Event as Ritual

8 4 Rethinking Mourning Rituals Hybrid Grief in Social Media Networked Mourning Vernacular Sorrow

9 5 Ritual Contestations Who Counts as an Ideal Victim? Vicarious Witnessing Livestreaming Death

10 6 Rituals Connect and Separate Remembering Not to Forget Ritual Insensibility Whose Memories Matter? Multifaceted Connections

11 7 The Quest for Post-Mortality Floating Death The Dilemma of Immortality ‘Who Wants to Live Forever?’

12 Bibliography

13 Index

14 End User License Agreement

1 Cover

2 Table of Contents

3 Title Page

4 Copyright

5 Preface

6 Begin Reading

7 Bibliography

8 Index

9 End User License Agreement

1 Preface Figure 0.1Covid-19 mural in Helsinki.

2 Chapter 2 Figure 2.1The funeral of President John F. Kennedy: The family in mourning.

3 Chapter 4 Figure 4.1Manchester worker bee – a mourning symbol after the UK arena attack in 2017. Figure 4.2‘Je suis Charlie’ meme on Edward Munch’s ‘The Cry’. Figure 4.3Street mural of David Bowie in Brixton, London.

4 Chapter 5 Figure 5.1The funeral of Margaret Thatcher.

5 Chapter 6 Figure 6.1The death of George Floyd. Black Lives Matter movement meme.

6 Chapter 7 Figure 7.1The death of Diego Maradona. ‘The old Maradona’.

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Johanna Sumiala

polity

Copyright © Johanna Sumiala 2022

The right of Johanna Sumiala to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2022 by Polity Press

Polity Press

65 Bridge Street

Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

101 Station Landing

Suite 300

Medford, MA 02155, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.