title: The importance of being ironic: narrative openness and personal resilience in later life.
abstract: This essay applies a narrative perspective to the topic of resilience. On various fronts (physical, social, biographical), aging itself, it argues, pushes us past a perception of aging as intrinsically tragic and toward a more ironic stance instead, one marked by increased acceptance of uncertainty and ambiguity. Moreover, intentional engagement in narrative reflection-by means of integrative reminiscence, life review, and the like-fosters such a stance directly by facilitating narrative openness and, with it, "a good strong story" for coping with the challenges of later life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gerontology, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. brandall@stu.ca
authors.forename: William L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Randall
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D033262:Narration; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012649:Self Concept