Expected Sacrifices and Inescapable Oppressions: A Durkheimian Lens in Analyzing Historical Cases of Suicide in Korea

Abstract

Suicide in Korea has a long history dating back to Japanese occupied Chosŏn/Korea (1910-1945) and beyond. Émile Durkheim’s influential social study of suicide has provided utility in classifying suicides across various contexts, and I contend here that his suicide typology can be used to understand suicides during this time period in Korea. Through analyzing secondary sources, this historical analysis will provide a basic foundation of how suicide has been understood and practiced during this selected time period in Korean history, with specific focus on how the uprooting of traditional society and culture under colonialism has shown a multiplicity of Durkheim’s suicide types. For this very reason, this paper further discusses the theoretical implications in arguing the fluidity of Durkheim’s suicide types.