‘자기배려’로 살펴본 정신장애 에세이의 서술 양상 연구 —리단, 『정신병의 나라에서 왔습니다』와 정지음, 『젊은 ADHD의 슬픔』을 중심으로

Abstract

This article reviewed the characteristics of the mentally disabled person’s description based on Foucault’s concept of self-consideration for Lidan and Jeong Jieum’s essays. Due to the nature of mental disorders in which disability facts are invisible, the pain experienced by the parties is complex. This article examines the socio-cultural significance of female mentally disabled writers and deals with readers’ reading attitudes. According to Foucault, self-care refers to the physical, mental, and social care and practice of an individual. He referred to writing as an important means of self-consider. The essay of the mentally disabled faithfully follows this context of self-consideration. It deals with the need to take care of one’s body and mind, and reveals socio-cultural biases by reflecting on the social relationships surrounding one. Furthermore, it reveals the writing of mutual communication as a practical care, because both mentally disabled and non-disabled people form a community of understanding and empathy as readers in the SNS space that confesses their disabilities and delivers messages of comfort and encouragement. The limitations of this article are that the narrative characteristics can be simplified due to the lack of target text, and the inability to deal more actively with the specificity of female freelance writers, which will be supplemented by future research.