|
KMID : 0904520200550010103
|
|
Health and Medical Sociology
2020 Volume.55 No. 1 p.103 ~ p.135
|
|
|
Narrative Styles and Social Suffering : Illness Narratives on Chronic Pain in South Korea
|
|
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
This paper focuses the illness narratives of South Korean (hereafter, “Korean”) adults with chronic pain and analyzes how the stories of their illness and lives are told. The empirical data of this article consists of qualitative interview of 19 women and 6 men. The interviewees were recruited through a Korean clinic and a biomedical hospital in Seoul.
The topics analyzed are narrative structure of illness narrative which consists of recognition, treatment, and adjustment. The narrative of recognition is about myself with an inscrutable chronic pain. The main themes are the invisibility and incomprehension of chronic pain, the depiction of their intense pain, the difficult communicability of chronic pain and loneliness. In the narrative of recognition, the narrative self is defending their chronic pain against distrust. The narrative of treatment is about myself who is after repeated treatment, still sick. The experience of gathering hospital information, receiving treatment and seeking better treatment due to uncertainty of treatment becomes the central plot of the story, but the conclusion ends with continuously having with chronic pain, not fully recovered. In the narrative of treatment, the narrative-self is to overcome their own chronic pain. The narrative of adjustment is about negotiating their social role and expectation. Chronic pain is related to women’s social role and expectation and associated particularly with women who are preoccupied by fulfilling their family member’s requirements and needs as the daughter, wife, mother and daughter-in law. In narrative of adjustment, the narrative self reflects their chronic pain and life.
|
|
|
KEYWORD
|
|
|
Illness narrative, Chronic Pain, Illness Experience, Social Suffering, Narrative Analysis
|
|
|
FullTexts / Linksout information
|
|
|
|
|
|
Listed journal information
|
|
|
|