Introduction: Perspectives on Cultural Aging at a Glance

A. V. Hülsen-Esch
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Demographic transformation resulting from low fertility and high life expectancy in developed and developing countries has led to an increase in the numbers of elderly people living in those countries. Moreover, low birth rates, changing family structures, and economic and political crises causing migration and flight are having a significant impact on intergenerational relationships, social welfare systems, the job market, and on what elderly people (can) expect from their retirement and environment. Due to these current demographic developments and changes, the categories age and aging are quickly gaining in societal relevance and are garnering tremendous attention in various scientific and scholarly fields. Age(ing) is not only a biological and social fact but also a cultural one. Questions of aging and demographic change, and issues of dependency and the need for care, are central concerns in Europe and in many other countries worldwide. In societies with a growing proportion of older people, concepts relating to who the elderly are and what aging means are becoming increasingly important. Ideas about what they contribute to society and what society gives them, what is known about older people, and how aging processes are evaluated are being put to the test, and the question of how older people perceive themselves is gaining significance. In all societies, concepts of life phases have developed that are reflected in images of old age.1 Demographic shifts and changes to disease profiles and cultural dynamics (e.g., to family structures, value systems, employment, health, opportunities for political and other forms of social participation) are transforming these images of age, which in turn affect the role that people who are identified as “old” assume in a society. Reflections on old age in the arts reveal not only the concepts of age, role expectations, and stereotypical notions with which we encounter this stage of life but also how expectations of age-appropriate behavior can be subverted, changed, and expanded upon. Yet our society still pays far too little attention to the potential impact made by cultural actors on policy, social programs, and medical research. The current generation and, in particular, the next generation must be prepared for an academic and economic world that comprises diverse ages and an aging workforce, and for
导论:文化老龄化透视
发达国家和发展中国家低生育率和高预期寿命所造成的人口结构变化,导致这些国家的老年人人数增加。此外,低出生率、不断变化的家庭结构以及导致移民和外逃的经济和政治危机正在对代际关系、社会福利制度、就业市场以及老年人对退休和环境的期望产生重大影响。由于这些当前人口的发展和变化,年龄和老龄化的类别正在迅速获得社会相关性,并在各个科学和学术领域获得了巨大的关注。老龄化不仅是一个生物学和社会事实,也是一个文化事实。老龄化和人口变化问题,以及抚养和护理需求问题,是欧洲和世界上许多其他国家关注的中心问题。在老年人比例不断增加的社会中,有关老年人是谁以及老龄化意味着什么的概念变得越来越重要。关于老年人对社会的贡献和社会给予他们的东西,对老年人的了解,以及如何评估衰老过程的想法正在受到考验,老年人如何看待自己的问题正变得越来越重要。在所有社会中,生命阶段的概念都已发展,并反映在老年的形象中人口变化以及疾病概况和文化动态(例如家庭结构、价值体系、就业、健康、政治和其他形式的社会参与机会)的变化正在改变这些年龄形象,这反过来又影响到被认定为“老年人”的人在社会中所扮演的角色。艺术中对老年的反思不仅揭示了我们在生命的这个阶段所遇到的年龄、角色期望和刻板印象的概念,还揭示了对与年龄相适应的行为的期望是如何被颠覆、改变和扩展的。然而,我们的社会仍然很少关注文化角色对政策、社会项目和医学研究的潜在影响。当前这一代人,尤其是下一代人,必须为一个由不同年龄和老龄化劳动力组成的学术和经济世界做好准备,并为未来做好准备
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