The journey of life : a cultural history of aging in America / Thomas R. Cole.

Title :

The journey of life : a cultural history of aging in America

Author:

Cole, Thomas R., 1949-

Format:

Books

Summary:

The Journey of Life envisions growing up and growing old as a voyage down a river flowing inexorably to the sea. With this image of the human life cycle, the author explores the historical shoreline of later life, charting its cultural forms and sounding their depths. The result is both a cultural history of aging and a contribution to public dialogue about the meaning and significance of later life. The core of the book shows how central texts and images of Northern

middle-class culture, first in Europe and then in America, created and sustained specifically modern images of the life course between the Reformation and World War I. During this long period, secular, scientific, and individualist tendencies steadily eroded ancient and medieval understandings of aging as a mysterious part of the eternal order of things. Old age was removed from its ambiguous place in life's journey, rationalized, and redefined as a scientific problem.

In the last quarter of the twentieth century, however, postmodern images of life's journey offer a renewed awareness of the spiritual dimensions of later life and new opportunities for growth in an aging society.

Language:

English

ISBN - ISSN:

0521410207

Physical Description:

xxxv, 260 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Contents:

Pt. 1. The Ages of Life and the Journey of Life: Transcendent Ideals. 1. Aging in the Western tradition: cultural origins of the modern life course. 2. The aging pilgrim's progress in the New World. 3. "Death without order": the late Calvinist ideal of aging -- Pt. 2. The Dualism of Aging in Victorian America. 4. Antebellum revivals and Victorian morals: the ideological origins of ageism. 5. Popular health reform and the legitimation of longevity, 1830-1870. 6. Aging, popular art, and Romantic religion in mid-Victorian culture. 7. In a different voice: self-help and the ideal of "civilized" old age, 1850-1910 -- Pt. 3. Science and the Ideal of Normal Aging. 8. The aging of "civilized" morality: the fixed period versus prolongevity, 1870-1925. 9. Toward the scientific management of aging: the formative literature of gerontology and geriatrics, 1890-1930. 10. The prophecy of Senescence: G. Stanley Hall and the reconstruction of old age -- EPILOGUE: Beyond dualism and control--reflections on aging in postmodern culture.

Subject:

Aging -- Social aspects -- United States.

Older people -- United States -- Social conditions.

Gerontology -- United States -- History.

Old age -- United States -- History.

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The journey of life : a cultural history of aging in America / Thomas R. Cole.

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Summary

The Journey of Life is both a cultural history of aging and a contribution to public dialogue about the meaning and significance of later life. The core of the book shows how central texts and images of Northern middle-class culture, first in Europe and then in America, created and sustained specifically modern images of the life course between the Reformation and World War I. During this long period, secular, scientific and individualist tendencies steadily eroded ancient and medieval understandings of aging as a mysterious part of the eternal order of things. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, however, postmodern images of life's journey offer a renewed awareness of the spiritual dimensions of later life and new opportunities for growth in an aging society.

Summary

«Hay gente en estas tierras que tiene poderes extraordinarios a los que llamamos gracias . Una gracia puede tener un valor infinito o puede ser totalmente inútil. Una gracia puede hacer que alguien sea veloz como el viento, o que sea capaz de predecir el tiempo, mientras que otras sOlo harán que hables al revés sin pensar o te subas a los árboles. Mi nombre es Katsa. Soy un instrumento que mi Rey utiliza para castigar a sus enemigos. Mi gracia es matar.»

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Cole, an associate professor at the University of Texas, here explores the evolution of societal attitudes toward aging, gender and familial ideals from antiquity to the present, discussing both political and philosophical influences. He devotes a major portion of this excellent and accessible scholarly study to examining a wide variety of religious beliefs, many of which envision life as a spiritual pilgrimage. However, with the rise of secular individualism, today's ``scientific management'' of aging has prolonged the life span, Cole observes, and liberated older men and women of many burdens and duties. On the other hand, he contends, the elderly have been deprived of their traditional cultural roles, special functions and positions in society. Furthermore, he notes, with a youth-oriented culture that tends to consider aging a chronic disease, the spiritual aspects of growing old and of death as natural parts of the life cycle have been slighted. Illustrations. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Choice Review

Cole (Institute for the Medical Humanities, University of Texas Medical Branch) portrays the "Journey of Life," the aging process, as a voyage down a river flowing inexorably to the sea. In humanistic fashion, Cole attempts to explore the "historical shoreline of later life, charting its cultural forms and sounding their depths," ultimately arriving at reflections on aging in "postmodern culture." Cole uses this history to probe deeply into the depictions of aging and the aged, their "meaning," and the perceptions they suggest. He is at his best when analyzing the cultural biases of a science that emerged to explain and manage old age. Although he calls upon a wide array of sources to present stimulating and insightful interpretations, Cole focuses on the Western tradition; room still remains for cross-cultural questions from anthropologists and folklorists. His work extends greatly contributions made in Samuel Chew's The Pilgrimage of Life (1962), Michael Kammen's Selvages & Biases (1987), and Die Lebenstreppe ed. by Peter Joerissen and Cornelia Will (Bonn, 1983). Cole's book accomplishes the heady task of bridging science and humanities. College, university, and public libraries. S. J. Bronner; Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg

Library Journal Review

What has it meant to be old? With the increasing interest in aging, medical and self-help books are crowding our shelves. This work challenges the assumption of value-free studies of aging and offers a critical evaluation of the meanings of aging in American society. Deftly interweaving religion, economics, gender, health trends, and science, Cole documents the period from the Reformation to post-World War I. Tracing the decline of religious values, the rise of the economic pressures of individualism, and the reliance on scientific management of health, he offers new insights into patterns of behavior. An excellent addition to the literature on aging, this book presents complex information in a clear and engaging style.-- Jan Blodgett, St. Mary's Cty. Records Ctr. & Archives, Leonardtown, Md. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

List of illustrations

Preface

Introduction

Part I The Ages of Life and the Journey of Life: Transcendental Ideals

1 Aging in the Western tradition: cultural origins of the modern life course

2 The aging pilgrim's progress in the New World

3 'Death without order': the late Calvinist ideal of aging

Part II The Dualism of Aging in Victorian America

4 Antebellum revivals and Victorian morals: the ideological origins of ageism

5 Popular health reform and the legitimation of longevity, 1830-1870

6 Aging, popular art, and Romantic religion in mid-Victorian culture

7 In a different voice: self-help and the ideal of 'civilized' old age, 1850-1910

Part III Science and the Ideal of Normal Aging

8 The aging of 'civilized' morality: the fixed period versus prolongevity, 1870-1925

9 Toward the scientific management of aging: the formative literature of gerontology and geriatrics, 1890-1930

10 The prophecy of Senescence: G. Stanley Hall and the reconstruction of old age

Epilogue: beyond dualism and control - reflections on aging in postmodern culture

Index.

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Choice Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents