Ageing masculinities, Alzheimer's and dementia narratives

"Bringing together insights from masculinity studies and age studies for the first time, this volume focuses on the gendered and relational perspectives in cultural representations of Alzheimer's disease. In the cultural context of many societies, Alzheimer's disease has come to represent the 'dark side' of longevity in the 21st century. While the dream of a long life has become a real possibility for many people, it has simultaneously given rise to new anxieties focused on cultural fears of 'demented' old age. In expert discourse as well as in personal accounts, Alzheimer's has produced what might be called a 'master narrative' that limits representation and narration and questions traditional views of selfhood and human development. Combining a comparative and interdisciplinary approach with a gendered perspective, the essays in this volume engage with Alzheimer's as a disease of ageing masculinities, drawing on representations of the disease in many different cultural contexts. Examining a broad range of source material, including memoir, film, poetry and prose fiction, this book looks at work from a wide range of authors, including Anne Carson, Philip Roth and Jonathan Franzen."-- Provided by publisher.