THE CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS TO THE PHENOMENA OF KOREAN ARTIST SUICIDE

Abstract

Suicide among South Korean artists has become a recurring social phenomenon that cannot be fully explained through individual psychological perspectives alone. This study examines the contribution of sociolinguistics to the phenomena of Korean artist suicide by analyzing how suicide is linguistically constructed in online media discourse and netizen commentary. Using a qualitative approach grounded in Critical Discourse Analysis, the study analyzes selected online news articles and public comments related to prominent cases of Korean artist suicide. The findings reveal that media discourse predominantly frames suicide through emotional dramatization and tragic normalization, emphasizing pressure and suffering while marginalizing explicit mental health and prevention-oriented discourse. Netizen comments frequently employ evaluative, moralizing, and dehumanizing language that positions artists as publicly accountable figures expected to display emotional resilience. Additionally, cultural linguistic norms of emotional restraint contribute to indirect and euphemistic representations of distress, limiting empathetic engagement. The study concludes that Korean artist suicide should be understood as a discursively mediated social phenomenon shaped by sustained linguistic practices across media and digital spaces, highlighting the importance of sociolinguistic perspectives in mental health and media research.