How are identity narratives maintained over one’s lifetime when neither the enactment of one’s work role nor organised holding environments can be assumed? In his autobiography, Ahluwalia continues to narrate himself as a mountaineer, despite the end of his mountaineering career following a war-induced disability. Locating his account alongside the existent literature on identity work within holding environments, I find that the interpersonal and the relatively impersonal holding environments aid the maintenance of identity narratives in various ways. Specifically, the former offers discursive materials and social support that directly contribute to identity narrative maintenance. The latter acts more as a discursive container of personal and public memory (e.g., via artifacts) that further contributes to identity narrative maintenance. Additionally, as actors within said holding environments interact, it is possible that an individual’s identity work is reinforced by the simultaneous identity work of others. Overall, the paper clarifies the ways in which different holding environments can facilitate the maintenance of individuals’ identity narratives and how the environments themselves may be shaped over time.
