Citation

Pearce JS. Illn. Crises Loss 2020; 28(4): 299-320.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1054137317742234

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

On July 23, 2015, in the Grand 16 Theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, a gunman opened fire in the 7 o'clock showing of the movie, Trainwreck. Mayci Breaux, 21, and Jillian Johnson, 33, both received fatal wounds. Nine others were injured. As part of a community healing event following the shooting, a Tagboard was established around the hashtag LafayetteStrong. This study was conducted using a content analysis of 493 photographs and images among these posts. Goffman's dramaturgical analysis provides a framework for these findings to better comprehend the online performance of self for a grieving community. The images of people, objects, and digital images present evidence of an authentic self to a grieving community in the wake of a local tragedy.

Language: en

Keywords

death; grief; loss; qualitative data; sociology; symbolic interactionism