Digital Death and Spectacular Death

Bibliographic Data

ID5934735
AuthorsJ Sumiala (0000-0002-4773-4509, University of Helsinki, corresponding author), Michael Hviid Jacobsen (0000-0003-0237-1318, Aalborg University)
Year2024
Volume13
Issue2
Pages101
Publication date2024-02-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci13020101
OpenAlexW4391560382
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited41

Throughout human history, individuals, communities and societies have always had to confront and tackle the problem of death. Consequently, death remains a topic of social scientific relevance, highlighting the need for its study and for theorising around it. This article analyses the development of the social scientific study of death and dying, taking inspiration from Philippe Ariès's historical stages to discuss the recent developments in the field, namely the study of digital death. The article begins with a discussion of the visibility of death in modern society in the context of spectacular death. The analysis emphasises its four dimensions: mediatisation, commercialisation, re-ritualisation and the revolution in end-of-life care. The article moves on to discuss the emergence of digital death as the current stage and reflects on its similarities to spectacular death and its transformation of public imaginaries around death in contemporary society. The article concludes with a reflection on future developments in the field, specifically the emergence and study of artificial intelligence (AI) in digitalised death culture

Aesthetics · Afterlife · Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Political science · Relevance (law · Social science · Sociology · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · History · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Philosophy

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