The meaning of death as experienced by elderly women of a Korean clan

Abstract

The objective of this ethnography is to describe the meaning of death as experienced by the elderly. The authors collected data through participant observation and ethnographic interview with 14 key informants in a Korean clan between September 1994 and November 2001. They examined the data using taxonomy, proxemics, and value analysis techniques. Meanings of death included the end of pain, the dispersion of existence, moving to the next life by transcending the boundary, returning to the original place, and escalating into the world of the men's group. These meaning are constructed in a sociocultural context of research fields and in accordance with patterns of behavior in everyday life. © 2005 Sage Publications.