Death and bereavement on the Internet in Sweden and Norway

Abstract

Memorial websites on the Internet constitute a new form for expressing grief and for remembering deceased relatives and friends. In my sample of memorial websites, I have studied those that are open to the public. Such memorial sites have had an explosive development during the 2000s. The messages become a virtual, social meeting place by giving mourners an opportunity to express themselves and avoid remaining alone with their grief. In this study the all-inclusive issue has been how mourners express their emotions and concepts of belief regarding the deceased person. The question focused upon is the belief in something posthumously supernatural. Memorial sites on the Internet are also set up for dead pets. The boundary between humans and animals as spiritual beings is discussed in the study. In Norway the vision is primarily directed backwards, relating to traditions, and in Sweden forwards, in the direction of changes. In Sweden there is a greater tendency to adopt innovations and to leave the long-standing. This study can, in addition, play a part in the contemporary discussion about greater outspokenness concerning death, compared to the prevalent silence and taboos of the 1900s.