ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the important meeting point of death and digital media. It offers an in-depth account of how the funeral industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia are responding to the challenges and opportunities digital media offer. The book provides the detailed account of these new forms of digital commemoration across a variety of media. It discusses how the funeral industry is reacting to the developments, and considers how the emergent practices fit into a broader social, cultural, and religious history of memorialisation and mourning. The book also offers an important account of how commercial practices work in tandem with emergent social practices to shape the commemorative digital landscape. It also focuses on an examination of digital technologies and practices of memorialisation and commemoration.
