Illness and disease do not exclusively concern the ill person him/herself, but also those who are close to him or her. This is especially true if the affected person dies due to its illness and leaves behind mourning loved ones. In order to cope with the loss of a loved one, talking – and likewise writing – about the deceased and their dying is a generally acknowledged and therapeutically applied method (cf. Stukenbrock 2015: 76). However, nowadays the internet offers a range of possibilities not only to write about the deceased in general, but also to share their stories of illness and disease in public. The latter seems to be an increasing desire on part of the bereaved, as sharing – and consequently sympathizing – appears to be one way of breaching the speechlessness that is associated with death and grief (cf. Tienken 2015: 129). This can, for example, be extensively observed in online memorials such as www.gedenkseiten.de. Based on extracts from this exact site, the planned talk will address the following questions from a mostly qualitative perspective: How do loved ones re-tell illness and disease after the death of an affected person? What kind of narrative patterns emerge? To what extent do the conditions and affordances of online environments shape these narratives (e.g. regarding their publicness and their potential for sharing)?
Tienken, Susanne (2015): Von der Fehlgeburt zum Sternenkind. Ein Neologismus und seine kulturelle Bedeutung. In: Ängsal, Magnus P./Grub, Frank Thomas (Hrsg.): Visionen und Illusionen. Beiträge zur 11. Arbeitstagung schwedischer Germanistinnen und Germanisten Text im Kontext in Göteborg am 4./5. April 2014 (= Nordeuropäische Arbeiten zur Literatur, Sprache und Kultur 3). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 129–149.
Stukenbrock, Anja (2015): Verlustnarrative im Spannungsfeld zwischen erzählter Situation und Erzählsituation: Linguistische Fallanalysen. In: Scheidt, Carl Eduard/Lucius-Hoene, Gabriele/Stukenbrock, Anja/Waller, Elisabeth (Hrsg.): Narrative Bewältigung von Trauma und Verlust. Stuttgart: Schattauer, 76–93
