Paper short abstract:

The paper deals with the narratives about old age in the autobiographies of elderly people in Bratislava and Vienna at the turn of the 21. Century, with the ambivalent perception of old age in various discourses juxtaposed to the old age as experienced by elderly people themselves.

Paper long abstract:

The paper deals with the narratives about old age in the autobiographies of elderly people in Bratislava and Vienna at the end of the turn of the 21. Century. It examines the ambivalent perception of old age in both public and academic discourses juxtaposed to the old age as experienced by elderly people themselves (through the giving voice perspective), especially in relation to their body.

For example, the perception of the body presents one possible borderline of old age, although this topic does not occur very often in the narratives - in connection with the concept of "silenced bodies" by Gabriele Rosenthal. When it occurs, it is connected for example to the loss of physical attractiveness perceived mostly by female authors or in connection to the medicalization of old age through geriatric medicine or gerontology by both genders. Whether the encounter with the borders of an own old age means a biographical turn, depends on personal life experiences and the roles prescribed to the individuals by the society. For instance: men - retirement, women - physical attractiveness.

In the narratives several formulations related to the perception of the body could be also connected to the concept of "ageless self" by Sharon Kaufman or "mask of age" by Michael Hepworth: the elderly perceive the meaning not in the aging itself, but in being themselves in old age.