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<p>I discuss the practical role of <i>obsolete first-personal narratives,</i> i.e. narratives one continues to tell when they no longer fit one’s current characteristics and environment. I discuss their <i>practical vocation,</i> benefits, and the problems they pose for the negotiation of practical relations fitting one’s current characteristics and concerns. I argue that such narratives, often important for one’s sense of identity and agency, involve a tension between one’s perspectives on the past and on the present; a <i>sense of loss of the concreteness</i> of one’s cherished past characteristics, practical relations and places; and sometimes also a <i>resistance</i> to the concreteness of current ones. Thus, they limit a practical engagement with one’s current interlocutors and environment. Sometimes scaffolding enables the practical role of obsolete first-personal obsolete narratives, providing one with a renewed sense of belonging and agency, as some research on people with dementia suggests. Yet, this practical success is often difficult to sustain. Telling first-personal obsolete narratives can be a way to <i>resist</i> an impoverished or oppressive practical identity<b>,</b> and the concreteness of the present. Obsolete first-personal narratives may be linked to one or more forms of perceived <i>poverty</i> of the present. Future research could further investigate the link between obsolete first-personal narratives, a resistance to the concreteness and perceived poverty of the present in contrast to one’s past, and its implications for one’s sense of identity, practical relations and well-being.</p>

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The practical role and limits of obsolete first-personal narratives

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月18日

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  • Maria Cristina Contrino

摘要

I discuss the practical role of obsolete first-personal narratives, i.e. narratives one continues to tell when they no longer fit one’s current characteristics and environment. I discuss their practical vocation, benefits, and the problems they pose for the negotiation of practical relations fitting one’s current characteristics and concerns. I argue that such narratives, often important for one’s sense of identity and agency, involve a tension between one’s perspectives on the past and on the present; a sense of loss of the concreteness of one’s cherished past characteristics, practical relations and places; and sometimes also a resistance to the concreteness of current ones. Thus, they limit a practical engagement with one’s current interlocutors and environment. Sometimes scaffolding enables the practical role of obsolete first-personal obsolete narratives, providing one with a renewed sense of belonging and agency, as some research on people with dementia suggests. Yet, this practical success is often difficult to sustain. Telling first-personal obsolete narratives can be a way to resist an impoverished or oppressive practical identity, and the concreteness of the present. Obsolete first-personal narratives may be linked to one or more forms of perceived poverty of the present. Future research could further investigate the link between obsolete first-personal narratives, a resistance to the concreteness and perceived poverty of the present in contrast to one’s past, and its implications for one’s sense of identity, practical relations and well-being.