사회적 애도 가치와 공동체에 대한 감각 :이태원 참사 희생자 애도에 관한 진보지-보수지 사설 비교

초록

This study conceptualizes mourning as a social response to the sense of loss caused by death and analyzes the mourning discourse that emerged following the Itaewon disaster through the editorials of South Korea’s representative progressive and conservative newspapers. Using Semantic Network Analysis and qualitative analysis, the study examines the editorials of progressive outlets (Kyunghyang Shinmun and Hankyoreh Shinmun) and conservative outlets (Chosun Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo). The findings reveal that progressive and conservative newspapers exhibited differing perspectives not only on the nature and causes of the Itaewon disaster but also on the scope and character of mourning. Progressive newspapers construed the Itaewon disaster as indicative of a systemic failure of state responsibility, symbolized by the office of the President. Within this framework, the government is positioned as the primary agent of accountability, while the bereaved families are framed as moral claimants demanding truth and institutional redress. Conversely, conservative newspapers characterized the disaster as an unfortunate incident resulting from a lapse in administrative management. Here, the government is cast not as a culpable entity, but rather as a central figure in the process of national mourning, with the bereaved families depicted chiefly as recipients of societal sympathy and memorialization. The contested nature of mourning discourse in the wake of the Itaewon disaster gives rise to two critical inquiries. First, who is deemed eligible to receive the symbolic value of collective mourning within Korean society? Second, is the social fabric of the community underpinned by contractual relations or by ethical responsibility?

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