Description
This volume offers a timely and authoritative overview of narrative gerontology, a dynamic interdisciplinary field that examines aging through the stories by which lives are understood, lived, and remembered. Bringing together leading scholars and emerging voices, the collection takes stock of developments in theory, research, and practice since the publication of earlier foundational works, while pointing toward new directions for the field.Grounded in the concept of biographical aging, the chapters move beyond predominantly biomedical accounts of later life to explore subjective experience, identity, meaning-making, and self-continuity across the life course. Contributors draw on narrative psychology, sociology, philosophy, and the arts and humanities to address diverse forms of narrative-from life stories and small stories to poetry, drama, and autobiographical writing-and to consider their ethical, cultural, and practical implications.The volume is organized around three core domains: theoretical horizons, empirical research inquiries, and narrative engagements in practice. Topics include hope and spirituality, suffering and care, resilience and agency, dementia, disability, intergenerational narratives, and experiences of trauma. Several chapters demonstrate how narrative approaches can be used in applied settings to support coping, well-being, and identity in later life.Concluding reflections by prominent narrative scholars extend the dialogue between narrative theory and lived experience, underscoring the continued relevance of narrative perspectives for understanding aging. Together, the contributions position narrative gerontology as an essential framework for advancing scholarship on later life within gerontology and beyond.
Table of Contents
ForewordNarrative Gerontology: Gary Irwin-Kenyon, Backstory and Beginnings Introduction: William Randall, Gabriela-Spector, Mersel, & Kate de MedeirosPart One: Theoretical HorizonsTheorizing Narrative Gerontology: Critical Approaches to Storying Later Life, Kate de MedeirosFrom Life as Story to Age as Adventure: Changing the Narrative of Later Life, William RandallIs There a Right Way to Think About Growing Old? Navigating Narratives (and Realities) of Aging, Mark FreemanThe Narrative Poetics of Aging with Dementia, Lars-Christer HydénAgainst Mimesis: Narrative Adventuring in Later Life, Clive BaldwinToward a Lyric Gerontology: Expanding the Poetics of Later Life, Oddgeir Synnes & Matti RobinsonPart Two: Research InquiriesRevisioning Later Life: Stories of Emerging, Karen Skerrett ElderhoodAftermath Concerns in Legacy Narratives: Communion in the Second Half of Life, Susan Bluck & Mary Kate Koch Finding Meaning in Everyday Difficulties: The Construction of a Resilient Self in Stories Told by Older People Living, with Motor Disabilities, Feliciano VillarBetween "If Someone Would Write My Story" and "They Keep Mumbling": Generational Perspectives on Life-Stories in Later Life, Adriana TeodorescuAfrican American Centenarians: Narratives of Race, Faith and Resilience, Gwendolyn Etter-LewisPart three: Narrative EngagementsA Small Story Approach to Narrative Care with Older Adults, Michelle GreasonReminiscence and Life Review: An Exchange with Narrative Gerontology, Gerben WesterhofResponding to Identity Needs in Later Life through Autobiographical Storywriting Groups, Amia Lieblich & Gabriela Spector-MerselLife as a Play: Integrating Narrative Care and Drama Therapy in Aging, Shoshi Keisari & Dovrat HarelAfterwordLiving, Learning, and Narrative Heuristics, Kenneth J. GergenLived Experience and the Ideas I Have Pursued, Dan P. McAdamsA Narrative Epistemology of Old Age, Arthur W. FrankComments on Narrative Inquiry and Aging, Amia Lieblich
