Digitalization of Mourning and the Construction of Cultural Memory: Memory Spaces, Algorithmic Visibility, and Hybrid Identity Performances in Turkey

Authors : Serap Sarıbaş

Pages : 348-369

Doi:10.34086/rteusbe.1773940

View : 60 | Download : 219

Publication Date : 2026-01-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This article undertakes an interdisciplinary investigation of digital mourning in Türkiye through the intersecting frameworks of cultural memory, affect theory, and the politics of recognition. The primary objective is to elucidate the mechanisms by digital mourning practices reconstitute mnemonic continuity and collective identity within algorithmically mediated environments. Traditional ritual forms such as mevlit (memorial prayer gatherings), taziye evi (condolence houses), and ağıt (laments) are recontextualized within digital infrastructures in which private loss acquires collective visibility through systems of circulation, mediation, and datafication. Hashtags, commemorative profiles, and visual repertoires function as semiotic mechanisms by grief is transformed into a reproducible archive of cultural memory. The study employs qualitative content analysis and visual sociology to examine digital mourning practices in Türkiye between 2014 and 2023, focusing on emblematic events including the Soma mining disaster, the coup attempt of 15 July, and the 2023 Maraş earthquake. The findings reveal the mechanisms by digital mourning transcends the expressive domain of emotion and evolves into a hybrid ritual economy where devotional idioms, national iconography, and civic critique converge. Algorithmic visibility operates as a cultural mechanism that regulates attention, structures affective flows, and reconfigures hierarchies of recognition. By foregrounding the specificity of the Turkish case, the study challenges the universalist assumptions of Western-centered models of mourning and advocates for plural, contextually situated theoretical frameworks. It contributes to ongoing debates in cultural sociology, media studies, and the sociology of emotions by conceptualizing digital mourning as a constitutive cultural formation of the contemporary global condition.
Keywords : Dijital kültür, Duygu rejimleri, Dijital hafıza, Algoritmik görünürlük, Hibrit kimlik, Dijital yas

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