Entre o passado e o presente: subjetividade e identidade de velhos residentes no lar dos idosos em Cajazeiras-PB.

Abstract

The present study analyzes the senses of the age and the construction of the old age subject's identity in modern society, considering the remembrances of the old aged people that live in "Lar dos Idosos" (Home of Seniors), Cajazeiras - PB, in order to understand how the working of the institution operates in the constitution of its residents' identity. The speech of the old aged people and the theoretical references that treat of the theme constitute the universe. The data were collected through free interviews, semi-structured, that were transcribed and analyzed. The theoretical and methodological presumptions are according to the foundation of the Analysis of Speech of French orientation. The study shows that, when the old aged people talk about themselves, they select, through the memory, the events that marked their lives more intensely. Thus, these events are marks of their personality and identity. This way, the homogeneity in the operation of the institution contributes to the suffering of these people, as process in which they lose their roots. However, the old aged people use their experiences and style of life they had before going to the institution in their daily practices in order to establish bounds of their subjectivity.