Displaying, solidarity (online) with the victims

Keeping the dead alive
The uses of a “cyber shrine” in Atocha train station after the 11 March 2004 attack in Madrid
By Gérôme Truc
English

Three months after the 11 March 2004 attacks in Madrid, a computer system connected to an Internet site was set up in the train stations bit by the terrorists in order to collect messages of condolence and solidarity addressed to the victims. This system, aiming at transposing the grassroots memorials that had formed in these stations to the digital sphere, remained in place for three years. Based on several hundred hours of observation in the Atocha station during this period, this article reports on the uses of this “cyber shrine”, which is still one of a kind to this day. In particular, it shows how these uses can be analysed both as collective acts of writing acts and as rituals of solidarity. This approach puts into perspective the content of the messages recorded through this system, and can simultaneously be read as a more general contribution to the study of post-terrorists attacks memorial practices.

Keywords

  • responses to terrorist attacks
  • expression of emotions
  • memorial practices
  • writing acts
  • rituals of solidarity
  • cyber shrine
  • sociology of uses
  • public space
Go to the article on Cairn-int.info