“No Narrative, No Self”? Reconsidering dementia counter-narratives in Tell Mrs Mill Her Husband Is Still Dead

Abstract

This paper probes the possibilities and limits of the concepts of “narrative identity”, and “counter-narrative” in dementia life writing. Considering first the problematic status of autopathographies by people with dementia as counter-narratives, it then moves on to explore collaborative life stories co-produced with persons suffering from dementia. Focusing on the collection Tell Mrs Mill Her Husband Is Still Dead (Clegg in Tell Mrs Mill Her Husband Is Still Dead, 2010), it draws on ideas from conversational storytelling and small story research to reconsider how identity claims and counter-narratives are made in collaborative dementia life writing. Despite the fact that life stories by people with dementia may be considered “broken narratives”, the present analysis highlights how people with dementia continue to use these fragmentary narratives to make identity claims, to critique their care environment, and to make sense of their often confusing world.