"It's All Life:" an Exploration of the Eloquence of Embodiment in Postwar Adults
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
"IT'S ALL LIFE:" AN EXPLORATION OF THE ELOQUENCE OF EMBODIMENT IN POSTWAR ADULTS NAOMI WOODSPRING A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of the West of England, Bristol for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of the West of England, Bristol August 2014 "It's All Life:"* An exploration of the eloquence of embodiment in postwar adults Abstract In recent years, the academic field of gerontology has developed a newfound interest in the body. A curiosity about temporality, in its many manifestations: chronology, generation, rhythmicity, pace, anticipation, and history, to name a few, is growing in the social sciences. To date, no one has tackled ageing bodies embedded and embodied in time. This thesis explores time, embodiment, and identity as people come to know, experience and conceive of the bodily ageing process. The cohort, coming of age in the sixties timescape were in the centre of a social rupture. That era starkly exemplifies the importance of time and identity but is, by no means, a stand-alone event. The multiple aspects of the temporal dimension profoundly influence our expression and experience of ageing embodiment and meaning as expressed through identity. Yet, ageing is also a universal human experience. The collective experience of the postwar generation including the Bomb and Cold War, Earthrise, music and dance, the Pill, and the liberation movements have influenced expressions of physicality throughout the lifetime of this cohort. For this cohort, the experience of these events is now influencing the meaning of embodied ageing and identity. Body, time and the times of the postwar cohort are explored in this thesis. The inclusion of the intersection of time and body adds to our understanding of ageing. Employing a systemic perspective and constructivist grounded theory methodology, this study reflects research that included rich interview data from a cross-class study of thirty adults born between 1945 – 1955. The study makes an original contribution to the field of social/cultural gerontology in its exploration of embodiment, time, and identity and the findings that result from that investigation. The concepts of deep time, relative time, and dynamic legacy in relationship to older people are illuminated as a result of this study. *This quote is from Maggie, an interviewee. The full text can be found on p 127 Table of Contents Abstract p 2 Acknowledgements p 4 Chapter 1. Introduction p 5-7 Chapter 2. The Research Study p 8-28 Chapter 3. Body, Time, Identity: An analytical critique of the literature p 29-62 Chapter 4. Kaleidoscopic Sixties p 63-80 Chapter 5. On Time p 81-99 Chapter 6. Embodied Time p 100-146 Chapter 7. The Chiasm of Time and Body p 147-169 Chapter 8. Conclusion p 170-173 Appendix A. Key to Research Participants p 174-175 Appendix B. Interview Questions p 176 Appendix C p 177-183 Bibliography p 184-200 Additional Reading p 201-206 Acknowledgements This has been a really stellar journey and, like many of life's most rewarding experiences, I did not make the journey alone. My supervisors, Robin Means and Norma Daykin, were supportive and present when I needed or wanted help, but did me the great service of trusting me to 'have at it,' leaving me alone to explore. My life partner, Nick Shipton, had the patience of a saint when I needed it most, and was always supportive and interested – the three things I needed most. My daughter, Phoebe's editing and proofing skills never fail, and we made it through this process with our relationship still strong and intact. The Glenside Library staff went far above and beyond in their support and help. I thank friends and family on both sides of the ocean for listening to me babble at them endlessly. A special thanks to friends and colleagues from the British Society of Gerontology whose curiosity and encouragement in this research helped me to feel it was real…. counteracting what Paul Spencer (from RBI) kindly pointed was a bad case of imposter syndrome – thanks Paul. Chapter 1 Introduction Leave safety behind. Put your body on the line. Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind - even if your voice shakes. When you least expect it, someone may actually listen to what you have to say. Well-aimed slingshots can topple giants. And do your homework. (Kuhn, 1977) As a young American in the sixties, Maggie Kuhn was one of the few older people on my radar that was labelled as cool. The organization she founded, the Grey Panthers, got its name after one of the Black Panthers suggested it to Maggie. To me she seemed, mouthy and fearless, and she was raising a ruckus. She was shaking up the 'system,' and her campaign called for "young and old together" (1972), because our concerns were, in many ways, the same. And then, I forgot about her. She was not one of my heroes, just a cool old woman who said stuff that I admired, at the time. When I first got interested in doing research on ageing, I remembered Maggie Kuhn. I read everything I could get my hands on she had written. I put a small picture of her next to my desk. Thanks, Maggie…Here's to raising a ruckus and doing your homework. This study began as an intense curiosity about ageing body and the group of people who came of age during the sixties. What developed out of that curiosity is a research study that explores embodiment, time, and identity with a group of people born between 1945 -1955. I should, at this point, say I am one of those people in that birth group – a member of the postwar generation. My curiosity was peaked when, on moving to the UK five years ago, I had my first 'in your face' experience of ageism. It was that experience that started me on this journey. However, this is not a comparative study of the US and UK. The focus of this research is the UK only, which provided me with many challenges. I had to steep myself in a cultural and historical understanding of the UK in the sixties, which was very different than the American experience. My outsider perspective forced and allowed me to examine cultural differences like class, language and accent, and cultural mores. Though my background is in clinical psychology, I approached the study as a social researcher, working through the lenses of critical gerontology and sociology. This research is about temporality, ageing body, and identity. In the last thirty years, the breadth and depth of research and literature about ageing has expanded rapidly away from primarily portraying the state of being older as one of unremitting decline. The literature has shifted from medical research to a much wider range of perspectives that embrace social, cultural and critical gerontology as well as the political economy of ageing. There is no longer one monolithic way of describing ageing and what it means to get older. With this study, I would like to extend that description of ageing further. There is no literature that explores ageing body and time in depth. Elias (1939/1978, 1985) and Merleau-Ponty include both time and body in their work – Elias primarily from the aspect of history and Merleau-Ponty through the lens of perception. A number of authors have touched on the subject but primarily through a singular lens of either chronology, history, generation, or memory – Grosz (2005), Turner (1991, 2008), Shilling (2003), Katz (2013), and Gilleard and Higgs (2000, 2005, 2013), to name but a few. As this thesis will demonstrate, embodied time is rich and varied. I would like to extend the growing body of critical literature on ageing, the experience of growing older, and the meaning of that experience. This thesis consists of eight chapters. Chapter 2, The Research Study, describes my systems research approach or theoretical underpinnings, epistemology and ontology, methodology, research design, sampling and study population. I also explain the theory and philosophy behind the interviews I conducted. In other words, Chapter 2 is a complete picture of the what, how, and why of the study. Chapter 3, Body, Time, Identity: An analytical critique of the literature, presents a review of the relevant literature in three areas: body and ageing body, time, and identity. By "relevant," I mean literature that was most important and/or influential to the development of this study. By necessity, it is a long chapter even though there is not an abundance of literature in any of my three chosen areas. I reviewed far more literature than is actually presented within Chapter 3; that literature is listed in a Further Reading Bibliography. In Chapter 4, Kaleidoscopic Sixties, the context in which my participants came of age is mapped out, but that is not the sole purpose of this chapter. It serves to contextualize some of the key findings in the research by noting the historic, cultural, and societal changes that came out of that period, the sixties. Chapter 5, On Time is a data analysis of my participants' notions, descriptions, and relationships to time. The data analysis continues in Chapter 6, Embodied Time. This chapter, is unusually long because it follows the linear flow of time (past, present, future) as it analyses participants' experiences and descriptions of embodied time. Chapter 7, The Chiasm of Time and Embodiment, is a discussion of the findings along with some concluding thoughts in regard to those findings. In Chapter 8 a brief summary conclusion is presented, addressing a generalizable theory, thoughts on interviewing, and recommendations for further study.