Korean Women’s Personal Narratives

Abstract

This chapter aims to explore Korean women’s self-esteem experience and their life journeys through in-depth interview studies. The purpose of this exploration is to provide women with a storytelling venue in which they narrate, listen to their inner voices, and articulate their conflicts and dilemma as well as joys and hopes. As a result of this study, we discover a different understanding of the Korean selfhood and self-esteem in light of women’s perspectives and experiences. While interpreting and presenting the interviewed women’s narratives, the author particularly pays attention to the ways how they not only look at themselves with regard to their descriptions of self-esteem and relationships, but how they also develop their selfhood in relational contexts.