Between blows and astonishment: aesthetic and experience in Alzheimer's disease

Author(s)

Daniela Feriani

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2017-03-09

Examining board members

Guita Grin Debert; Annette Gertrud Anneliese Leibing; Jane Russo; Ana Maria Canesqui; Fabiana Uno

• Advisor: Guita Grin Debert

Abstract

The path covered by this work follows the threads that compose Alzheimer¿s disease, including the lines of flight. To this end, I have observed neurology and geriatric psychiatry¿s appointments in a university hospital, the meetings of the support group of the Brazilian Alzheimer¿s Association, blogs written by people undergoing dementia process, in addition to participating in congresses, visiting families and gathering images about the disease that are available on the internet. Along this weaving, a few threads have been pulled and, in entwining and dismantling, folding and unfolding movements, they composed a name, an experience and an aesthetic of the disease. The threads that orient and displace themselves in this tangle are: disease, old age, memory, person. This research maps the path that they take in the constitution of the disease, as well as the juxtaposition between them, tracing a realm of relations, disputes and experiences. Each thread is a beam of relations, with loose ends that connect and disconnect themselves: thus, disease and health, old age and youth, memory and hallucination, person and "dissolution" of the self are in relation. Between oscillations, slippages and transit, a few folds have revealed themselves in this texture, such as normal and pathological, terror and humor, dementia and lucidity, routine and creativity, everyday life and supernatural. By raising to the surface the person in dementia process and the aesthetic dimension of the disease, in addition to unusual dialogues ¿ with shamanism and literature -, I was able to look beyond biomedical discourse and show the complexity, cloudiness and heterogeneity of Alzheimer¿s disease (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/09116-9 - Knowledge and practice in Alzheimer's Disease: a relation between memory and aging
• Grantee: Daniela Moreno Feriani
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate