“We are a United Humanity”: Death, Emotion and Digital Media in the Church of Sweden

Hutchings, Timothy

Abstract

© 2017 Broadcast Education Association. This article seeks to bring together the study of death, digital media, emotion and religion, using a Christian organization as a case study. The Swedish national church (Svenska kyrkan) has a large but declining membership and uses digital media extensively. We will analyze two of its attempts to respond to grief through media: a hybrid digital-physical technology installation in Swedish cemeteries and a series of posts about death and sadness on Facebook. In both projects, the Church presents emotion as a universal shared experience that unites all humanity, using this discourse to bring together its religious and non-religious audiences.

Citation

Hutchings, T. (2017). “We are a United Humanity”: Death, Emotion and Digital Media in the Church of Sweden. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 61(1), 90-107. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2016.1273930

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 1, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Mar 7, 2017
• Publication Date: Jan 2, 2017
• Deposit Date: Aug 20, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media
• Print ISSN: 0883-8151
• Electronic ISSN: 1550-6878
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 90-107
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2016.1273930
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1411529
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08838151.2016.1273930