Age becomes us : bodies and gender in time / Leni Marshall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marshall, Leni, 1969- author.

Series:

SUNY series in feminist criticism and theory.

SUNY Series in Feminist Criticism and Theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aging--Social aspects.

Aging.

Older women.

Older people.

Human body--Social aspects.

Human body.

Identity (Psychology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (216 p.)

Place of Publication:

Albany, New York : SUNY Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In lively, accessible prose, this book expands the reach and depth of age studies. A review of age studies methods in theory, literature, and practice leads readers to see how their own intersectional identities shape their beliefs about age, aging, and old age. This study asks readers to interrogate the "texts" of menopause, self-help books on aging, and foundational age studies works. In addition to the study of these nonfiction texts, the poetry and prose of Doris Lessing, Lucille Clifton, and Louise Erdrich serve as vehicles for exploring how age relations work, including how they invoke readers into kinships of reciprocal care as othermothers, otherdaughters, and otherelders. The literary chapters examine how gifted storytellers provide enactments, portrayals, and metaphorical uses of age to create transformative potential.

Contents:

Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1 : Constructing the Body of Age Studies; Analytical Use; Barriers and Words; Analysis, Advocacy, and Activism; Inquiry; A Roadmap; Chapter 2 : Deconstructing the Body Through Age Studies:; Constructing Age; Degendering Age; Abjection; Potential; Chapter 3 : Ambiguous Loss, Ambiguous Gain: Age Studies Analyses in Menopause and Beyond; Menopause; Menopause Mythology; Menopause: Questionable Wisdom; Learning to Be Old: Help Wanted; Learning to Be Old: Help Found; Ambiguous Loss

Chapter 4 : Changing Bodies and Changing Minds with Doris Lessing's The Diaries of Jane SomersText; Otherdaughter: Taking Care; Giving Care; Material Progress and New Ideas; Context; Materialism and Feminism; Didacticism; ""And, And, And""; Chapter 5 : Lucille Clifton's Poetic Perspective and Aging; Exemplar: Clifton; Historical Context; Contemporary Context; Poetic Context; Counterpoint and Future Context; Chapter 6 : Storytelling and Cultural Transmission, with Louise Erdrich's Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse; The Story's Story: Old Woman Spider (Cherokee)

Generational Functionality in Traditional Girst Nation CulturesStories' Historical Functions in First Nation Cultures; Storytellers' function in contemporary first nation cultures; Group Individuals: Story as Context; The Story of Last Report; Othereldering; A Possibility: ""Regardless of Time""; Chapter 7 : Rewriting Death, Rewriting Life; Re-membering the Field; Rewriting Death, Rewriting Life; Notes; Works Cited; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781438456980

1438456980