자살에 관한 문화적 학습 및 재생산의 경로: 중국 농촌 여성의 사례

Abstract

How do women in rural China come to learn and reproduce suicide as a possible solution to certain situations though it is a taboo and strictly suppressed behavior in Chinese society? China has recently been singled out for its high rates of suicide, making suicide as one of the most important public health problems in China today. In particular, Chinese women have shown much higher suicide rates than men, primarily due to a plethora of female suicides in rural China. The researcher's anthropological fieldwork study in Hebei villages suggests that the frequency of female suicidal behavior in some rural areas can be even higher than reported statistical data. Based on in-depth interviews with more than 60 male and female villagers, including about 20 people who attempted suicide or have a suicide in the family, the researcher has found that there are at least two important paths by which rural women can learn suicide as a socially acceptable behavior to solve seemingly unsolvable problems in their lives. One is through the experience of suicide committed by a close female family, relative, or friend. Examples of Sujing and Lihua demonstrate that a mother's suicide can have a serious influence on suicidal ideation and behavior among her children, especially daughters. Despite difference in degree, a close relative or friend's suicide can also affect a woman's attitude toward suicide. The other path by which rural women can learn suicide is through the unconscious process of embodiment. Even though a woman has no personal experience of suicide by significant others, it appears that the frequency of female suicidal behavior in rural communities repeatedly informs her of cultural knowledge that female suicide is a solution to certain situations. The example of Mingwei shows that while she is not aware of how she obtained this cultural knowledge, she nevertheless promptly used it as a method to deal with her immense psychological burden. In conclusion, the researcher proposes that instead of being simply regarded as a corporeal entity with symbolic meaning, an effect of discourse, or a site of cultural inscription, anthropologists should consider the body as the starting point to study culture and self because on the center of cultural learning and reproduction lies the body.