“Je suis Charlie” and the Digital Mediascape: The Politics of Death in the <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> Mourning Rituals
This article examines rituals of mourning in the digital mediascape in the case of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, 2015. The idea of the digital mediascape draws on Arjun Appadurai’s (1990) seminal work on mediascape and develops it further in the current framework of digital media. Rituals of m...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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2017-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/242 |
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| author | Johanna Sumiala |
| author_facet | Johanna Sumiala |
| author_sort | Johanna Sumiala |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article examines rituals of mourning in the digital mediascape in the case of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, 2015. The idea of the digital mediascape draws on Arjun Appadurai’s (1990) seminal work on mediascape and develops it further in the current framework of digital media. Rituals of mourning are approached as a response and a reaction to the anxiety and distress caused by the unexpected violent death of global media attention. The phenomenology of ritual practices in Charlie Hebdo is characterised as multi-layered, relational and coexisting. The article looks in particular at the ritual mourning in association with the message and the meme “Je suis Charlie”. The ‘imagined worlds’ created around the digital circulation of this ritual message are discussed in relation to the idea of the politics of death formed around such fundamental value-laden questions as whose life counts as life and is thus worthy of public recognition of mourning, as Judith Butler (2004) has asked. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-687f295088f64f049a21c455dde98a7f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1736-6518 2228-0987 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics |
| spelling | doaj-art-687f295088f64f049a21c455dde98a7f2025-02-02T18:36:54ZengSciendoJournal of Ethnology and Folkloristics1736-65182228-09872017-06-0111111112610.1515/jef-2017-0007155“Je suis Charlie” and the Digital Mediascape: The Politics of Death in the <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> Mourning RitualsJohanna Sumiala0University of HelsinkiThis article examines rituals of mourning in the digital mediascape in the case of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, 2015. The idea of the digital mediascape draws on Arjun Appadurai’s (1990) seminal work on mediascape and develops it further in the current framework of digital media. Rituals of mourning are approached as a response and a reaction to the anxiety and distress caused by the unexpected violent death of global media attention. The phenomenology of ritual practices in Charlie Hebdo is characterised as multi-layered, relational and coexisting. The article looks in particular at the ritual mourning in association with the message and the meme “Je suis Charlie”. The ‘imagined worlds’ created around the digital circulation of this ritual message are discussed in relation to the idea of the politics of death formed around such fundamental value-laden questions as whose life counts as life and is thus worthy of public recognition of mourning, as Judith Butler (2004) has asked.https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/242digital mediascapepolitics of deathmourning ritualsCharlie Hebdo |
| spellingShingle | Johanna Sumiala “Je suis Charlie” and the Digital Mediascape: The Politics of Death in the <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> Mourning Rituals Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics digital mediascape politics of death mourning rituals Charlie Hebdo |
| title | “Je suis Charlie” and the Digital Mediascape: The Politics of Death in the <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> Mourning Rituals |
| title_full | “Je suis Charlie” and the Digital Mediascape: The Politics of Death in the <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> Mourning Rituals |
| title_fullStr | “Je suis Charlie” and the Digital Mediascape: The Politics of Death in the <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> Mourning Rituals |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Je suis Charlie” and the Digital Mediascape: The Politics of Death in the <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> Mourning Rituals |
| title_short | “Je suis Charlie” and the Digital Mediascape: The Politics of Death in the <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> Mourning Rituals |
| title_sort | je suis charlie and the digital mediascape the politics of death in the i charlie hebdo i mourning rituals |
| topic | digital mediascape politics of death mourning rituals Charlie Hebdo |
| url | https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/242 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johannasumiala jesuischarlieandthedigitalmediascapethepoliticsofdeathintheicharliehebdoimourningrituals |