The Art of Self-Concretization in the Subaltern Counterpublics

• In Event: Rhetorics of Social Change

Abstract

This paper argues that the art of self-abstraction lies at the kernel of the theories and practices of publicity. Given that the historically marginalized cannot enjoy self-abstraction, are there any other kinds of self-suspension? How and by what means can the subaltern be seen and heard by others? By examining the case of self-immolation by Chun Tae-il, this paper complicates the issue of embodiment in the public sphere.

Author

• Young Cheon Cho, California State University, Chico