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The Past as Resource
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https://doi.org/10.1159/000272892Abstract
In this exploratory study we introduce conversation analysis as a method for locating the significance of the life story or personal narrative in the everyday lives of the elderly. To illustrate our hypotheses, we draw upon a small sample of recordings of conversations between elderly dyads and compare them with comparable data collected among young adults. We suggest that among old people there is a broad recalling of the past in the context of the present which achieves for them a shared sense of meaning; this feature of talk is far less salient among young adults. © 1983 S. Karger AG, Basel.
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