ある不妊女性のライフストーリーとその解釈 : 「不妊」という十字架を背負って

Abstract

This study examined the typology of self-narratives reported in my previous studies. In reconsidering those studies, I felt that I had missed some variety with respect to those narratives, as well as the unique quality of the episodes. Therefore, I reflected on how those stories revealed the reality of the storyteller. This paper interprets the lifestory of a woman with infertility, based on her own narrative. I conducted sequential analysis, without segmentation, on her narrative. Wanting to interpret the entirety of her life-story, I sought to identify not only her symbolic and key words but also the meaning of her experience in relation to infertility. She regarded her infertility as a cross to bear. However, her experience of infertility changed over time, from leaving her with a sense of emptiness to becoming a source of compassion and caring. In my narrative studies, I have aimed to clarify not the replicability but, rather, the specificity of individual life-stories. This paper suggests the importance of carefully analyzing each individual person.