title: Seeking (and Finding) Ulysses: Some Positive Ageing Narratives in Recent Fiction and Film

authors: Osborne, Patricia Lynne Clara

subjects: Ageing

abstract: The process of ageing is all too often seen as something to be avoided, feared or even, sadly, ridiculed. We are all familiar with literary and film narratives which portray older persons as either curmudgeons or crones, or personify them as being ugly or ill (Up, Grumpy Old Men, Snow White‟s stepmother in disguise, Red Riding Hood‟s grandmother) – images which often translate to real-life assumptions about older people, and ageist attitudes which are not conducive to individuals ageing well. Commentators within the field of Social Gerontology have noted with concern the dominance of such negative stereotypes, linking them to poor outcomes for real-life older persons.

Yet, instinct suggests that we are right to fear such prospects for our own ageing, and this raises the question: „With what can we replace these age-old models of decline and decay?‟
A partial answer to this question can be found in a recent abundance of positive literary and filmic portrayals of older persons leading triumphant, vibrant and adventurous lives. Via a brief survey of some texts and films drawn from the recent past, which includes Joanne Harris‟ novel Chocolat, Helen Simonson‟s Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, and the films Skyfall and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, this thesis examines some positive fictional portrayals of ageing in the light of contemporary research within the social sciences.

Taking as its inspiration the poem „Ulysses‟ by Alfred Lord Tennyson, this thesis is intended to be neither exhaustive nor definitive, and has as its primary motivation the purpose of highlighting key attitudinal and practicable qualities demonstrated within these fictional contexts that are applicable to ageing well in the real world, as indicated within the relevant scholarship.

text: Seeking (and Finding) Ulysses: Some Positive Ageing Narratives in Recent Fiction and Film The process of ageing is all too often seen as something to be avoided, feared or even, sadly, ridiculed. We are all familiar with literary and film narratives which portray older persons as either curmudgeons or crones, or personify them as being ugly or ill (Up, Grumpy Old Men, Snow White‟s stepmother in disguise, Red Riding Hood‟s grandmother) – images which often translate to real-life assumptions about older people, and ageist attitudes which are not conducive to individuals ageing well. Commentators within the field of Social Gerontology have noted with concern the dominance of such negative stereotypes, linking them to poor outcomes for real-life older persons.

Yet, instinct suggests that we are right to fear such prospects for our own ageing, and this raises the question: „With what can we replace these age-old models of decline and decay?‟
A partial answer to this question can be found in a recent abundance of positive literary and filmic portrayals of older persons leading triumphant, vibrant and adventurous lives. Via a brief survey of some texts and films drawn from the recent past, which includes Joanne Harris‟ novel Chocolat, Helen Simonson‟s Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, and the films Skyfall and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, this thesis examines some positive fictional portrayals of ageing in the light of contemporary research within the social sciences.

Taking as its inspiration the poem „Ulysses‟ by Alfred Lord Tennyson, this thesis is intended to be neither exhaustive nor definitive, and has as its primary motivation the purpose of highlighting key attitudinal and practicable qualities demonstrated within these fictional contexts that are applicable to ageing well in the real world, as indicated within the relevant scholarship.

year: 2014

title: Jespersen cycles on Malekula

authors: Barbour, Julie Renee

subjects: diachrony

abstract: In the indigenous languages of Malekula Island, members of Oceanic, diverse standard negation strategies have been identified, including double negation, simple preverbal negators, and simple postverbal negators. Individual languages may display more than one strategy. In this article, evidence from Malekula is considered for the typological hypothesis known as the Jespersen Cycle(s). Six standard negation strategies are described in detail and illustrated using data from a sample of Malekula languages. Here, the Jespersen Cycle hypothesis is employed to understand diversity in the synchronic patterning of standard negation in a comparative analysis of the sample: the diverse standard negation strategies found both language-internally and comparatively can be understood as iterations of the Jespersen Cycle(s).

text: Jespersen cycles on Malekula In the indigenous languages of Malekula Island, members of Oceanic, diverse standard negation strategies have been identified, including double negation, simple preverbal negators, and simple postverbal negators. Individual languages may display more than one strategy. In this article, evidence from Malekula is considered for the typological hypothesis known as the Jespersen Cycle(s). Six standard negation strategies are described in detail and illustrated using data from a sample of Malekula languages. Here, the Jespersen Cycle hypothesis is employed to understand diversity in the synchronic patterning of standard negation in a comparative analysis of the sample: the diverse standard negation strategies found both language-internally and comparatively can be understood as iterations of the Jespersen Cycle(s).

year: 2015

title: Re-designing the national imaginary: The development of Matariki as a contemporary festival

authors: Hardy, Ann

subjects: Aotearoa/New Zealand

abstract: This article considers the factors shaping the contemporary redevelopment in Aotearoa/ New Zealand of the indigenous commemoration of the rising of the constellation Matariki as a marker of seasonal change.  Through interviews with producers of media materials celebrating Matariki, it examines the ideological, cultural, and economic factors determining the encoding of the materials, investigating in particular the ways in which Matariki can resource a marketplace for spiritual commodities.

text: Re-designing the national imaginary: The development of Matariki as a contemporary festival This article considers the factors shaping the contemporary redevelopment in Aotearoa/ New Zealand of the indigenous commemoration of the rising of the constellation Matariki as a marker of seasonal change.  Through interviews with producers of media materials celebrating Matariki, it examines the ideological, cultural, and economic factors determining the encoding of the materials, investigating in particular the ways in which Matariki can resource a marketplace for spiritual commodities.

year: 2012