The Nature of Korean Elder's Reminiscence: A Phenomenological Approach

Lee, Eun Jeong

Abstract

The phrases such as elders' powerless soliloquy or stammering and their positions unadjusted to the real world are, so far, one of negative views on elder's reminiscences. In other words, it means that elders can get psychological consolation from the getting themselves absorbed in their past. The starting point of this study is, however, that elders' reminiscence are their own mode of the existence. This dissertation is studied through Van Manen's phenomenological research method. The aim of this study is to examine the nature of Korean elders' reminiscing content in everyday life of elders. The research participants consist of the ten elders who are community elders, hospitalized elders and nursing home residents. The period of the research is about a year from Jan., 1996 to Feb., 1997. The results of this study are as follows : The natures of elders' reminiscences are the regretting on their life, mitigating the regrets, the confirmation of the powers and the confirmation of their life's mark. The regretting on their life is the starting point of elders's reminiscences. elders have tried to examine their life through reflection on their life that they did not live good life as son and daughter for parents and as parents for children and that they have foolishly lived, on dream that they did not come true, on their learning that they did not unsatisfied. But elders mitigate the regrets. They have felt their limitations of power in the conflict of human relation, the economic matter and the difficult predicament, and have finally accepted their life as it is by congesting from their tenacity. It is dynamically found that both the regretting on their life and mitigating of the regret. And they pursuit the powers. It means the pursuit of the vital powers, the vigorous powers and the competency. Elders have pursued their vitality, vigor and competency through their reminiscences and have wanted to be recognized by others as a powerful being. These have dynamic and compounded aspects. The confirmation of their life's mark refer to through their own situation of health, condition, children, neighbourhood and doing their duty as a human. Elders have confirmed the present value of their being through the reflecting the present, past self, other men around themselves, children, neighborhood and the doing their human duty as a good men. Therefore the results of this study can offer new view on the elders' reminiscences that we have to understand the as a process as what they are, escaping from the simple logic that elders' reminiscence have a positive or a negative effects. Also, this study which have examined the natures of Korean elders' reminiscences can cast a new light on elders' nursing proper for Korean culture.