SELFIES AT HORROR SITES: DARK TOURISM, GHOULISH SOUVENIRS AND DIGITAL NARCISSISM
SELFIES AT HORROR SITES: DARK TOURISM, GHOULISH SOUVENIRS AND DIGITAL NARCISSISM

Summary/Abstract: Taking self-portraits at horror sites, like concentration camps, Ground Zero or disaster stricken areas, has become a growing trend on social networking sites. The paper aims to discuss the cultural phenomenon of macabre selfies in the light of dark tourism and digital narcissism. Horror covered in the media becomes an attractive background for the ultimate selfies which are a teenagers’ way of celebrating life in places of death. These sometimes humorous self-portraits are ghoulish souvenirs providing emotional detachment, and at the same time a link to a greater media narrative. The interdisciplinary study is rooted in photography research, cultural and memory studies, and digital media research. The paper discusses the relationships of dark tourism and the media, kitschy souvenirs and digital memorialization of traumatic events.

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