The First Words of a Fragmented Memory: A Peircean Approach to the Narrative Incipits of Economically Disadvantaged Older Koreans

This paper argues that the silence of the elderly does not indicate memory loss; rather, it may be the threshold of memories that have not yet found their voice. The study proposes the concept of “Memory Incipit” as a theoretical framework, based on Charles Sanders Peirce’s concepts of qualia and quale-consciousness. This concept delineates the moment prelinguistic embodied memory first becomes speech through silence, hesitation, fragmentary utterances, repetition, and place-related words. Using a series of autobiographical interviews conducted with five low-income elderly individuals, this study reveals that their memories frequently manifest not as chronological events or causal narratives, but rather as bodily sensations, the atmosphere of a place, and sensory and emotional traces condensed within brief utterances. Sensory questions facilitate the translation of these traces into verbal expression. Therefore, incoherent speech and fragmented utterances do not signify failures in the act of narration. Rather, they represent the initial phase in meaning-making whereby embodied memory becomes speech. The study aims to explore the potential of “Memory Incipit” as a framework for understanding the narrative identity of older adults with limited literacy and opportunities for self-narration.