Document resource
Contemporary Taiwanese literature has witnessed an emergence of narratives addressing cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease, constituting a significant literary phenomenon that merits scholarly attention. These narratives often delve into intergenerational dynamics between ageing parents, whose stories are untold, and their adult children, who emerge as literary voices. Through the filial narratives of amnesia, writers reveal the relational nature of memory itself. Through theoretical frameworks of Asian gerontology and narrative medicine, this study examines how Taiwanese dementia narratives function as critical interventions in public humanities and cultural discourse. The analysis reveals how authors employ collective memory to reconstruct the lived experiences of individuals affected by cognitive decline, illuminating memory’s inherently relational nature within sociocultural matrices of identity formation. These narratives negotiate complex intersections of intergenerational relationships, socioeconomic stratification and eldercare practices while challenging hegemonic cultural narratives about ageing, thereby reshaping societal understanding of cognitive ageing in contemporary East Asian contexts.