치매 주체와 자기결정권의 역설: 정소현 「품위 있는 삶, 110세 보험」에서 보는 치매 담론

초록

This paper examines the narrative identity and self-determination of a narrator with dementia in Jeong So-hyeon's short story A Life of Dignity, 110-Year Insurance. Previous studies of dementia narratives have focused on unreliable narration, memory distortion, or the ethical implications of these works. In contrast, this paper argues that the narrator's account should be understood not merely as memory failure but as a narrative practice through which the present self is constructed, thereby reexamining the subjectivity and self-determination of persons with dementia. The narrator, Na Yun-seung, reconstructs her memories by displacing her own life story onto those of others. This transformation is interpreted not simply as a symptom of cognitive impairment but as a reconstruction of self-narrative through which she negotiates guilt. Moreover, the feedback videos submitted to the insurance company function as performative narratives that continually affirm her present self. Although her memories lose factual reliability, they reveal her present identity and value judgments. The paper further examines the conflict between Kim Min-gi and Jin Ha-jun through Ronald Dworkin's concept of precedent autonomy, Rebecca Dresser's concept of current autonomy, and Agnieszka Jaworska's notion of the “capacity to value.” Rather than endorsing any one position, the story preserves the tension between the self before dementia and the self after dementia, ultimately reframing the question of who should be recognized as the subject of self-determination in a super-aged society.

키워드