Aging & Social Change: Thirteenth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Although population ageing is to be celebrated, it is also wedded to an increased need for carework that poses new demands on families and care services. This paper addresses the representations of end-of-life care and later life as depicted in the works of two contemporary American writers - Erica Jong and Mitch Albom. It examines the complexities of ageing from a perspective of cultural and literary age studies with a special focus on mentiorial relationship and family support. The paper shows how the experience of carework leads to the discovery of new ways of human interaction and a better understanding of living-with-dying. The two works also reveal that later-life narratives can be an integral part of the transmission of knowledge and humanistic values to establish solid relationships between generations. This presentation also aims to demonstrate how humanities-based inquiry and critical literary approaches towards old age can illuminate important aspects of ageing that are significant and revealing, but often unvoiced and underrepresented in gerontological scholarship. Literary texts can yield unique insights of personal crises and turning points, and show how people accommodate their developing sense of finitude as they grow older. At the same time, the end-of-life narratives reveal how carers learn news lessons about ageing, corporeality, and the meanings of life and death. Such ‘insider’ perspectives can help policymakers and health care professionals implement strategies to improve the care needs of older people and the lives of the family members who take care of them.