Grief is the price we pay for love: Emotions disclosed by Chinese mourners in online memorial platform

Abstract

The present paper undertakes an in-depth analysis of the messages within the ‘Grief-expressing’ section of the online memorial platform ‘Heavenly Remembrance.’ Utilizing Grounded Theory alongside a mixed-methods approach incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, this study delves into the emotional categories and referential features in the online discourse of Chinese mourners, drawing upon the Affective Lexicon Ontology. The findings of this study reveal that: firstly, the expressions of Chinese online mourners demonstrate a remarkable diversity and complexity, encompassing a spectrum of emotional categories characterized by both positive and negative attributes. This highlights the capacity of online memorial platforms to provide inclusive spaces for emotional disclosure, thereby facilitating the transformation of traditionally singular and concentrated grief into more personalized and varied emotional experiences. Secondly, the emotional disclosure of Chinese online mourners is directed towards the self, the deceased and the community respectively. Notably, there appears to be a trend over time towards a gradual transition in emotional expression from predominantly negative to increasingly positive, as well as from predominantly individual-focused to more collective-oriented expressions. In light of this, the study also attempts to explain the motivations behind such grief disclosure through the Motivation Model of Pragmatics, thereby theoretically contributing to the research on discourse and emotion in the Chinese mourning context and offering a new perspective on the emotional dynamics of individuals experiencing bereavement in online context.