落齒: 쇠락하는 신체의 발견과 그 수용의 자세

Abstract

Since experience of losing one’s teeth means sudden discovery of aging in the middle of gradual process of growing old, Sino-Korean writings about lost teeth show the attitude of recognizing and accepting the evening of one’s life. It is embarrassment that people feel when their teeth fall out with aging. Their appearance and pronunciation changes due to lost teeth, and it sometimes ends up with the sense of shame and socialphobia. The feeling of embarrassment and shame easily turns into depression. The common reaction to the reality of the ongoing aging process is just to admit and accept it. One can also change his attitude toward aging to reconcile oneself, being grateful of having a long life enough to loose teeth. It can be a good subject to make fun of when standing apart from it, like many writers chose to make jokes and versify humorous poems on loosing teeth. Being humorous is also a good way of self-consolation for withering body. In addition, there are some works showing wisdom coming with aging. Even though aging itself never guarantees someone's wisdom, seniors’ freedom from duty sometimes gives them new perspective to see what they couldn’t see when young. Since the aged and the young are standing on the same path of time, the reality that the elders face with also matters to those future oldsters. That’s where we can find the unique feature of the imaginary experience of aging through literature, sensing and feeling the old body via personal body experience not yet old.