Ariel Sophia Bardi

KATHMANDU, Nepal— On a calm, clear afternoon last April, Bishnu Karki settled in for a nap in his home. He was dozing in an upstairs bedroom when a 7.8 earthquake slammed his village of Tatopani in hilly, central Nepal, collapsing its stone, shingled homes and striking deep, jagged lines through the land. Karki soon came to, dazed and pinned to the mattress by beams that had fallen from the ceiling. His bed, still intact, now lay on the ground floor.

As France mourns the victims of the Paris attacks, Americans are still grappling with their own anguish over the violence that left 129 people dead. But mixed with public mourning rituals here are fierce debates over the politics of grieving in the digital age.