Memorialization practices in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: the online wake ritual.

This study aimed to understand the online wake ritual as a virtual Memorialization practice in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. This is an exploratory and descriptive qualitative study, with document analysis as the main study design. A search was conducted on the Google platform, with links published between March 11, 2020 and July 27, 2021, in Portuguese, with "Brazil" as the geographic definition. Among the 4924 links identified, 162 links referred to online news articles published in the context of the pandemic and available for full and free access. Among these, 65 were selected as they mentioned the online wake ritual, and were analyzed through content analysis. Significant transformations were identified in the topography of the wake ritual in order to respond to sanitary restrictions and social distancing measures. These were related, for instance to: the form and diversity of people involved in the offering; the transmission mode; and aspects related to spatiality and temporality. The presence of singularized symbolic elements concerning belongingness gave visibility to the leading role of the bereaved in the design of the wake ritual.