Centre for Policy on Ageing



Dignity, cultural power and narrative redemption — aging male writers confront the medical system
Author(s)	Robert Disch
Journal title	Journal of Gerontological Social Work, vol 29, nos 2/3, 1998
Pages	pp 93-110
Source	http://www.tandfonline.com
Keywords	Older men ; Ill health ; Writing ; Literature ; Attitude ; Health services ; United States of America.
Annotation	The 1990s have witnessed an outpouring of autobiographies in which ill and ageing writers describe their encounters with the medical system. This literature genre is variously referred to as "self stories", "illness stories", or "pathographies". In this essay, the author examines three such works in relation to what established authors tell us about dignity, ageing and illness. He has chosen male writers, who apart from some "machismo", may have greater value for enlightening us about the relationship between dignity and medical treatment than do illness stories by more medically sophisticated women. The works discussed are: "A whole new life: an illness and a healing", by Reynolds Rice (1994); "In love with daylight: a memoir of recovery", by Wilfrid Sheed (1995); and "A stroke of genius: illness and self-discovery", by Paul West (1995). (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-980903232 A
Classmark	BC: CH: HKP: HK: DP: L: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.