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

Abstract

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.