The art of self-concretization as a necropolitical embodiment: The self-immolation of Chun Tae-il

This essay examines Chun Tae-il's self-immolation as an exemplar that showcases how a life deprived of public appearance can enter the public sphere through the willful destruction of one's body. Far from being a strange and curious deviation, self-immolation, I argue, is a necropolitical form of public embodiment for those who have been marginalized and excluded from the space of appearance. Chun Tae-il's self-immolation illustrates that there is an alternative form of self-suspension practiced by subaltern subjects: the art of self-concretization. While all subjects of publicity are required to bracket their self-interests when entering the public realm, Chun Tae-il's self-immolation indicates that the entrance fee for minoritized subjects can be life itself, thus epitomizing the limit condition of self-purgation in the public realm.