Earticle

초록

영어

This paper argues that the silence of the elderly does not indicate memory loss; rather, it may be the threshold of memories that have not yet found their voice. The study proposes the concept of “Memory Incipit” as a theoretical framework, based on Charles Sanders Peirce’s concepts of qualia and quale-consciousness. This concept delineates the moment prelinguistic embodied memory first becomes speech through silence, hesitation, fragmentary utterances, repetition, and place-related words. Using a series of autobiographical interviews conducted with five low-income elderly individuals, this study reveals that their memories frequently manifest not as chronological events or causal narratives, but rather as bodily sensations, the atmosphere of a place, and sensory and emotional traces condensed within brief utterances. Sensory questions facilitate the translation of these traces into verbal expression. Therefore, incoherent speech and fragmented utterances do not signify failures in the act of narration. Rather, they represent the initial phase in meaning-making whereby embodied memory becomes speech. The study aims to explore the potential of “Memory Incipit” as a framework for understanding the narrative identity of older adults with limited literacy and opportunities for self-narration.

목차

Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methodology
2.1 Participants
2.2 Data and Interview Design
2.3 Research Focus: Mediation as the Surface
3. Theoretical Framework
3.1 Beneath the Surface: Qualia and Quale-Consciousness
3.2 Memory on the Surface: Where Qualia Meet Orality
4. Analysis
4.1 The Memory Incipit: Silence, Fragment, and Place
4.2 From Incipit to Narrative: Composition through Decomposition
5. Concluding Remarks
References

키워드

저자

• Hae Won Shon [ Korea University, Republic of Korea ]

참고문헌

발행기관

간행물

표지보기 관심저널 등록

• 간행물명

  에피스테메 [EPISTÉMÈ]

• 간기

  계간

• pISSN

  1976-9660

• 수록기간

  2007~2026

• 등재여부

  KCI 등재

• 십진분류

  KDC 331.05 DDC 301