Rappresentazioni sociali dell'invecchiamento tra psicologia sociale e letteratura

aim of the present paper is to propose the analysis of literary texts in order to study social representations of ageing. after introducing the theme, with reference to recent developments in terms of positive ageing and to the usefulness of a stronger interchange between social psychology and literature, the results of quali-quantitative and qualitative analyses of two italian recent books are presented. both correspondence analysis and a qualitative reading of the texts provide precious cues towards the purpose of co-constructing a good way of ageing. assonances and divergences with contemporary social psychological literature on ageing contribute to a critical and generative interpretation of the last 'gift of time'.