Orchestrating Ageing - A Field Approach Towards Cultural Disengagement in Later Life

Autor(en)

Vera Gallistl, Viktoria Parisot

Abstrakt

Despite gerontology’s growing interest in culture, relatively little atten-tion has been given to older adults’ participation in theater. This paper addresses this gap by developing field theory as an analytical tool to conceptualize processes of cultural disengagement in later life. Ten older individuals (60+ years) were invited to investigate their access to three different theater spaces in Vienna. The investigation was documented through participatory observations, qualitative interviews, and photo di-aries. The results highlight three specific sets of rules that are relevant in theater: Rules about 1) the ageing body, 2) mobility, and 3) subjectivities. Furthermore, these rules are age-coded, which means that many of the rules visitors in theaters have to follow to be able to participate in theater are not easily followed by older adults. Finally, this article outlines the potential of field theory for gerontology and highlights the importance of studying processes of cultural disengagement in later life.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Soziologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Karl Landsteiner Privatuniversität für Gesundheitswissenschaften

Journal

International Journal of Ageing and Later Life

Band

16

Seiten

11-32

Anzahl der Seiten

22

ISSN

1652-8670

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.3506

Publikationsdatum

10-2022

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

509005 Gerontologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Health(social science), Cultural Studies, Life-span and Life-course Studies, Gender studies

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/5ba0e4ba-fac6-4d76-8768-471ee6792a82