서사적 자아론은 구체적인 삶의 지평에서 주체로 등장하는 자아의 모습을 탐구한다는 점에서 기존의 인격동일성 이론과 차별적이다. 서사적 자아론에서 자아는 자신의 삶에 대해, 삶을 구성하는 사건들에 대해 이야기하는 자로 상정된다. 이 자아는 사건에 등장하는 행위와 사회적 실천의 주체이고, 자신이 경험하고 목격한 사건들을 과거-현재-미래의 시간지평에 배열하여 의미망을 확보하고, 이를 통해 통합적인 자아 이미지를 구축한다. 서사적 자아론에서는 수적 동일성의 판별 기준이 아니라 한 사람이 어떻게 자신에게 일어난 사건에 대해 이야기하고 통합적인 자기이해를 형성해내는지를 규명하는 것이 관건이다.이 글에서 필자는 (i) 서사적 자아의 개념을 서사의 주체로서의 자아, 해석학적 자아, 타자성을 전제로 하는 자아라는 세 가지 양상에서 규명하고, (ii) 서사적 자아 개념을 성폭력과 같은 트라우마적 사건의 피해자가 행하는 자기서사의 사례를 들어 살펴봄으로써 그 여성주의적 함축을 드러내고자 하며, 마지막으로 (iii) 서사적 자아론의 보완을 위한 제안을 하고자 한다. 특히 (iii)과 관련하여 필자는 원칙적으로 모든 자기서사는 정당한 자기서사임을 주장할 것이고, 서사적 자아론에서 사건의 의미는 사건 자체의 개별적 수준에서만이 아니라 상위의 사회적, 집단적, 유적 지평의 중층적 구조에서 확보될 수 있음을 주장할 것이다.
Narrative-self theory is an alternative to traditional personal identity theories. It differs from those theories in that self is supposed as subject in particular horizon of life, and as narrator speaking her own life and events she suffered. Self is the subject of actions constituting events and of social practices. She positions events experienced or observed by herself in the horizon of time of the past-present-future and therefrom acquires meaning of the events and also integral self-image. Critical is not here the criterion of the one-and-same personal identity relation but how a person narrates events occurring to herself and so constitutes her own integral self-understanding. In this paper, first, I examine the concept of narrative-self in three aspects, ie., self as narrative subject, self as hermeneutic subject, and self as relational subject. Second, I try to show the feministic implications of the concept of narrative-self in the case of victim of traumatic accident such as sexual assault. Third, I make two proposals to complement the narrative-self theory. I try to show that every self-narrative is legitimate in principle and that meaning of an event in a self-narrative is not only secured in the level of the particular event but also in the upper levels of social, collective or generic horizon of the event.
Narrative-self theory is an alternative to traditional personal identity theories. It differs from those theories in that self is supposed as subject in particular horizon of life, and as narrator speaking her own life and events she suffered. Self is the subject of actions constituting events and of social practices. She positions events experienced or observed by herself in the horizon of time of the past-present-future and therefrom acquires meaning of the events and also integral self-image. Critical is not here the criterion of the one-and-same personal identity relation but how a person narrates events occurring to herself and so constitutes her own integral self-understanding. In this paper, first, I examine the concept of narrative-self in three aspects, ie., self as narrative subject, self as hermeneutic subject, and self as relational subject. Second, I try to show the feministic implications of the concept of narrative-self in the case of victim of traumatic accident such as sexual assault. Third, I make two proposals to complement the narrative-self theory. I try to show that every self-narrative is legitimate in principle and that meaning of an event in a self-narrative is not only secured in the level of the particular event but also in the upper levels of social, collective or generic horizon of the event.
