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dc.contributor.authorEngland, Suzanne-
dc.contributor.authorRust, Martha-
dc.date.accessioned2012-04-04T14:36:35Z-
dc.date.available2012-04-04T14:36:35Z-
dc.date.issued2012-04-04T14:36:35Z-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2451/31535-
dc.descriptionPaper submitted to The Journal of Aging Studies March 27, 2012en
dc.description.abstractThrough the lens of Muriel Spark’s dark comedic novel, Memento Mori, this paper explores questions of morality, mortality, and the moral choices and performances in old age and in the systems and places of care. Spark’s elderly characters are complex moral actors—some virtuous and some decidedly not—who have been receiving mysterious phone calls telling them simply, “Remember you must die.” We, the co-authors, are from two different disciplines, namely Renaissance and medieval literature, and social work and critical gerontology. Among the questions that interest us is the paradox of a master narrative that on the one hand exempts the old from moral criticism yet holds them to a higher moral standard—essentially positioning them as moral nonentities, and relieving the old, their caretakers, and society of moral responsibility. Another is the question of whether moral agency in old age has distinctive aspects, and whether consciousness of one’s impending mortality effects moral reasoning and performance. In this paper we offer our individual readings of the ways the novel opens up conceptual space in aging theory, and conclude with our thoughts about what our collaboration suggests for continuing cross-disciplinary dialogue.en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.subjectmorality, memento mori, virtues, will, living spaces, literatureen
dc.titleSweet Old Things and Dirty Old Men: The Vices and Virtues of Old Age in Muriel Spark's Memento Morien
dc.typeArticleen
Appears in Collections:Suzanne England's Collection

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