Narratives are part of all disciplines and have been used to interpret facts.
Definition
The narrative is:
- A telling of some aspects of self through ordered symbols;
- A form of communication with a purpose;
- A plot (selection of events, the underlying structure of a story with some type of chronology;
- Meaningful;
- Grounded in a specific cultural setting and shaped by cultural expectations and rules;
- Created through language that will affect what is communicated and what is interpreted;
- Social or produced for a specific audience.
According to Medeiros (2022), “Narrative gerontology emerged as a concept in the 1990s to describe the ways that people age biographical as well as biologically.“ Since then, narratives and narrative approaches have gained popularity as methods and ways of knowing.
Jim Birren (1996) has referred to Narrative gerontology “as the ultimate insider’s perspective on ageing and human development.“ The essence of narrative gerontology is the perspective of life as a story.
A constructive process
Narrative gerontology is also a constructive process where the elderly person (gerontology) tells the history of their life (narration), a sort of retrospective of their life. Storytelling allows them to recognise that identity development is a continuous process throughout life and allows them to work on their self-concept and self-expression by re-interpreting their past and the changes that have occurred over time.
In a certain sense, the past only exists as long as it is remembered and recreated in interaction with present and future experiences, as well as with the meanings, interpretations, and metaphors connected to those experiences.
For Randall and Kenyon (2004), two of the leading experts in narrative gerontology, all humans connect to their life experiences through stories. From childhood, we are lulled by tales and legends that help us to understand the world. Later in life, we continue to need to create these symbolic bridges: that’s why we try to explain new situations through the prism of what we already know.
Narrative gerontology unequivocally links ageing with the need for purposefulness, the desire to give meaning to life: What’s important to me now? Why and how? What should I do? And in particular for a deeper and more satisfying sense of significance related to the individual uniqueness of a person’s life. The approach focuses both on identity construction and the need for attention and recognition that arises from it.