10.29 이태원 참사와 애도불가능성: 살아남은 자들의 이야기

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper explores “grievability” for the living from the perspective of “survivors” by looking at the crowd crush that occurred in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea on October 29, 2022. Specifically, the paper examines how they make sense of the Itaewon tragedy through interviews with those who consider themselves survivors. The interviewees, who are mostly in their twenties, say that they could have been one of the victims with deep grief. However, they expressed concern that the loss of the victims lives has not been properly mourned. In addition, they said that young peoples play in Itaewon, which is seen as a deviant and carnivalesque place, is far less valued than their work in healthy workplaces. This, they argued, led them to be treated as unworthy of protection, noting that the government, or what they perceived as the social system, did not come to their rescue. Using Butlers notion of “grievability,” this paper examines how survivors express their sense of “ungrievability” in relation to the Itaewon tragedy. In doing so, the paper discusses the meaning of the value of life in relation to the question of what was lost in the Itaewon tragedy.