Narrative identity, déprise, and lived experience of ageing

This article considers the relationship between deprise and self-narrative as a source of identity continuity from a philosophical perspective, with reference to the notion of narrative identity of Paul Ricœur. If the self-narrative allows us to shape the time we live without assuming an unchanging core of identity, this narration should promote the process of deprise. But this formalization of time by the narration faces several obstacles: the invisibility of our own ageing, which does not allow us to develop it, except to go along with external looks that objectify us; the difficulty of articulating this narration with our fundamental values in the duration of a lifetime; the repetition of daily constraints and the temporal discontinuity in the care relationship. The relationship of help and care should create sufficient continuity to accompany the process of deprise, but in practice it often breaks the coherence of the narration by reinforcing the absurdity of the repetition caused by pain and functional limitations. Therefore, the analysis must consider the concrete elements of organization in care that counteract the resumption of the self-narrative and the process of deprise.