Writing Oneself into Tragedy: The Alan Kurdi Image on Instagram

• In Event: The Body, Memorial Culture and Alan Kurdi

Abstract

This paper is based on a case study into re-appropriations of the iconic image of Alan Kurdi on Instagram, and takes into account user engagement with these re-appropriations. The users that create, disseminate and engage with this visual content, constitute a networked public that is rendered through expressions of shared solidarity. danah boyd (2010) presents four properties of networked publics in social media: persistence, replicability, scalability and searchability. Instagram is a platform where all four are in evidence, however, this study particularly zooms in on the replicability of discursive material and adds to this the re-appropration of images as a user practice to connect with an online public that mourns collectively.

Author

• Marloes Geboers, Amsterdam U of Applied Sciences