Imperfect eyewitness and contention among images of mourning: a visual sociological approach about the 29 October Itaewon disaster

This article analyses the visual dimensions of memory and mourning surrounding the 29 October Itaewon disaster in South Korean society. Drawing on visual discourse analysis, it examines a corpus of images circulated from the time of the disaster to the present. The article argues that the overabundance of cruel images in the immediate aftermath of the disaster has impeded appropriate mourning for the victims, and it criticises both the use of such images and their effects. The circulation of cruel images narrows the interpretive frame of the disaster, shifts responsibility onto the crowd, and ultimately naturalises the event. Furthermore, the article examines how various citizen-produced alternative images that resist cruel imagery each work to defer the closure of mourning. Finally, it explores the possibility of an alternative mode of witnessing that might counter the visual excess that obstructs appropriate mourning.