Socio-Phenomenological Reflections on What Digital Death Brings and Denies in Terms of Relational Experiences to Orthodox Romanians
Informed by Alfred Schütz’s phenomenology of social relations and its recent developments addressing online relationality, this essay reflects on the differences between online and offline death-related experiences in contemporary Romania. In Orthodox death cultures, religious, social, and familial...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/12/686 |
| _version_ | 1797379336887599104 |
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| author | Adela Toplean |
| author_facet | Adela Toplean |
| author_sort | Adela Toplean |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Informed by Alfred Schütz’s phenomenology of social relations and its recent developments addressing online relationality, this essay reflects on the differences between online and offline death-related experiences in contemporary Romania. In Orthodox death cultures, religious, social, and familial bonds overlap. Orthodox Christianity is sceptical about body–mind separation and values unmediated liturgical communities. It is, thus, pertinent to ask what death online brings and denies in terms of experience to Romanian internet users. Some preliminary findings from our fieldwork are discussed. So far, on Romanian Facebook, three clusters of experience emerged widely: 1. A realm of belief where faith, unchallenged by digital practices, “decodes” deadly events across life-worlds; 2. Experiences of resistance and ambivalence of those who are stuck “in-between“, that is, those less competent in their traditions, yet sceptical about digital change; 3. Death experiences seem less synchronised across life-worlds for those who value electronic proximity: digital death and real death obey different rules. Historical specificity, we shall conclude, sets typified combinations of motives for <i>what</i> Romanians do in the proximity of death and <i>how</i> they do it. Digital technologies modulate the “hows” and, less notably, the “whats”. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:21:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-113dfe7de775481bbc7cdde70f73e571 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:21:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-113dfe7de775481bbc7cdde70f73e5712023-12-22T14:42:56ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602023-12-01121268610.3390/socsci12120686Socio-Phenomenological Reflections on What Digital Death Brings and Denies in Terms of Relational Experiences to Orthodox RomaniansAdela Toplean0Department of Communication Sciences, Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest, Str. Edgar Quinet, nr. 5-7, Sector 1, 010017 Bucharest, RomaniaInformed by Alfred Schütz’s phenomenology of social relations and its recent developments addressing online relationality, this essay reflects on the differences between online and offline death-related experiences in contemporary Romania. In Orthodox death cultures, religious, social, and familial bonds overlap. Orthodox Christianity is sceptical about body–mind separation and values unmediated liturgical communities. It is, thus, pertinent to ask what death online brings and denies in terms of experience to Romanian internet users. Some preliminary findings from our fieldwork are discussed. So far, on Romanian Facebook, three clusters of experience emerged widely: 1. A realm of belief where faith, unchallenged by digital practices, “decodes” deadly events across life-worlds; 2. Experiences of resistance and ambivalence of those who are stuck “in-between“, that is, those less competent in their traditions, yet sceptical about digital change; 3. Death experiences seem less synchronised across life-worlds for those who value electronic proximity: digital death and real death obey different rules. Historical specificity, we shall conclude, sets typified combinations of motives for <i>what</i> Romanians do in the proximity of death and <i>how</i> they do it. Digital technologies modulate the “hows” and, less notably, the “whats”.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/12/686digital deathdeath practicesbeliefstraditionOrthodox ChristianityRomania |
| spellingShingle | Adela Toplean Socio-Phenomenological Reflections on What Digital Death Brings and Denies in Terms of Relational Experiences to Orthodox Romanians Social Sciences digital death death practices beliefs tradition Orthodox Christianity Romania |
| title | Socio-Phenomenological Reflections on What Digital Death Brings and Denies in Terms of Relational Experiences to Orthodox Romanians |
| title_full | Socio-Phenomenological Reflections on What Digital Death Brings and Denies in Terms of Relational Experiences to Orthodox Romanians |
| title_fullStr | Socio-Phenomenological Reflections on What Digital Death Brings and Denies in Terms of Relational Experiences to Orthodox Romanians |
| title_full_unstemmed | Socio-Phenomenological Reflections on What Digital Death Brings and Denies in Terms of Relational Experiences to Orthodox Romanians |
| title_short | Socio-Phenomenological Reflections on What Digital Death Brings and Denies in Terms of Relational Experiences to Orthodox Romanians |
| title_sort | socio phenomenological reflections on what digital death brings and denies in terms of relational experiences to orthodox romanians |
| topic | digital death death practices beliefs tradition Orthodox Christianity Romania |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/12/686 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT adelatoplean sociophenomenologicalreflectionsonwhatdigitaldeathbringsanddeniesintermsofrelationalexperiencestoorthodoxromanians |