감정이입과치유의기억공간: 1990년대 국립5·18민주묘지의조성시담론에대한재해석

Abstract

Thisstudyexamines the1994 regional discoursesurroundingtheconstructionof theMay 18 National Democratic Cemetery, as presented in Toward a Global Sanctuary of Democracy, a commemorative planning text published by Jeonnam Ilbo in Gwangju. Emergingbefore thecemetery'sofficial institutionalization, this text revealshowlocal actors envisioned the site not only as a space of mourning, but also as a place for emotional empathy, healing, and ethical community building. The purpose of this research is to reinterpret the emotional-political structure embedded in the 1994 discourse, and to identify its relevance to theaffectivedesignandpublic functionof thepresent-daycemetery.Rather thanviewing the cemetery solely as a site of historical remembrance, this study explores how the space was originally imagined as one that facilitates empathy and enables restorative relationshipsamongvisitors.The studyemploysqualitativediscourseanalysis to examine the 1994 text, integrating theoretical frameworks fromPierre Nora’s lieux de mémoire, JudithButler’s ethics of grief, andZizi Papacharissi’s concept of affective publics. Through this approach, the study identifies how emotions are spatially configured and translated into public ethical practices. Findings show that the cemetery was initially designednot as a static site of ritual, but as adynamic emotional spacewhere the public could collectively process grief, share affective experiences, and engage in democratic solidarity. The 1994 local planning document serves as a prototype for emotional public space, anticipating contemporary discussions on empathy-based spatial politics. This research contributes tomemory studies, spatial ethics, and democratic civic planning by demonstratinghowregional narratives canshapenationallysymbolic sites throughaffective imaginationandsocial healing