%0 Journal Article
%T Post-Mortem Projections: Medieval Mystical Resurrection and the Return of Tupac Shakur
%A Alicia Spencer-Hall
%J Opticon1826
%D 2012
%I Ubiquity Press
%R 10.5334/opt.af
%X Medieval hagiographies abound with tales of post-mortem visits and miracles by saints. The saint was a powerful religious individual both in life and in death, a conduit of divine grace and lightning rod for Christian fervour. With her post-mortem presence, the presumptive boundary between living and dead, spirit and flesh, is rent apart: showing the reality of the hereafter and shattering the fantasies of the mortal world. The phenomenon of a glorified individual returning to a worshipful community after their apparent mortal expiration is not just medieval. In April 2012, the rapper Tupac Shakur ¡°performed¡± on stage at the Coachella music festival. Tupac was murdered in 1996; his ghostly presence was the result of a hologram. His holographic form, the ¡°Pac-O-Gram¡±, took to the stage to a breathless crowd of fans. The holographic performance is a product of technological advances. Yet reports of the holographic performance were filled with references to Tupac¡¯s ¡°resurrection¡±, a significant word choice, and one which links the rapper¡¯s return with medieval hagiography more than the advance of technology. What can an examination of the modern example of the Pac-O-Gram and examples drawn from medieval hagiography of the dead returning to life add to each other?
%K medieval hagiography
%K Tupac Shakur
%K resurrection
%K divine visions
%K holograms
%U http://www.opticon1826.com/article/view/212