Self-realization and cultural narratives about later life

In late modern circumstances, aging individuals are confronted with the task of creating a meaningful individual life trajectory. However, these personal narratives are situated in the context of broader cultural narratives. It is argued that current cultural narratives about aging are often stereotyping and demeaning, being based on either a decline ideology or an age-defying ideology. This complicates the ascription of meaning to later life. We argue that narrative gerontology could profit from integrating a more cultural critical stance in its investigations. Dominant cultural narratives need to be challenged by viable counter narratives aimed at repairing and strengthening the moral agency of aging individuals. We discuss the criteria such counter narratives have to answer to and consider how the moral discourse on self-realization can provide an ideological foundation for meaning-generating cultural counter narratives on aging. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.