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| Author(s): |
Larissa Picinato Mazuchelli
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem |
| Defense date: | 2019-08-30 |
| Examining board members: |
Rosana do Carmo Novaes Pinto;
Julie Hengst;
Flávia Sollero de Campos;
Marcus Vinicius Borges Oliveira;
Marco Antonio Villarta Neder
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| Advisor: | Rosana do Carmo Novaes Pinto |
| Abstract | |
The ag(e)ing process, often described as the "destiny to which we are all condemned," is a complex phenomenon that has been investigated in diverse areas such as Psychology, Gerontology, and Anthropology. In Linguistics in Brazil, however, the most relevant work on the topic is still "A linguagem dos idosos: um estudo de análise da conversação" ("The language of elders: a study of conversation analysis"), written by Preti (1991) and whose reflection is based on a restricted corpus of utterances of two individuals over 80 who speak standard São Paulo Brazilian Portuguese. Considering the growing number of the ag(e)ing population in Brazil and the relative lack of linguistic reflection on the language use of this group, this doctoral dissertation investigated aspects of the relationship between language and ag(e)ing. Grounded in a social-historical perspective in Neurolinguistics and developed within the Group of Studies of Language in Aging and in Pathologies (GELEP/CNPq-Lattes), the research aimed to describe and analyze some linguistic-cognitive features that could help us better comprehend discourses produced about ag(e)ing and by ag(e)ing individuals, by answering three research questions: i) what stereotypes are pervasive in discourses about ag(e)ing that circulate and constitute its ethos in society?; ii) what can our analysis of language in ag(e)ing show about strategies used by the participants in the search of words, considered a major difficulty in language production; and iii) how can such discussion contribute to better understanding aspects of the relationship between normal and pathological speech production? In order to answer the first question, I articulate some discussions developed within Public Health, Psychology, and Anthropology to analyze and criticize stereotyping and discriminatory practices against ag(e)ing individuals. I analyze, on the one hand, some Brazilian television commercials broadcasted between 2007 and 2017 in which ag(e)ing individuals act as characters in the commercial narratives but do not constitute the direct target audience and, on the other hand, the participants¿ accounts of what it means for them to grow old(er). To answer the second and third questions I investigate the phenomenon of Word Finding Difficulties through the analysis of the production of circumlocution ¿ often regarded as a symptom of deficiency and typically associated with ag(e)ing ¿ in interaction. The objective was to reflect on how such analysis can help us demystify aspects of the linguistic production of ag(e)ing individuals, as well as challenge the boundaries between normal and pathological speech productions. Such discussions were drawn on the analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with eleven ag(e)ing volunteers (with or without language disorders) who either live by themselves, with their families, or in a non-profit care home in Campinas, SP. Some participants were also related to or members of the Center for People with Aphasia at IEL/UNICAMP. The interviews were video-recorded and discursively transcribed. Overall, the study gives visibility to how the recurrent circulation of stereotypes not only frequently ground the representations of ag(e)ing in media and the evaluation of speech production of ag(e)ing individuals but reinforces limiting experiences. The research thus hopes to demystify a hegemonic discourse that conceives the process only in terms of deficit, losses, or as an inevitable decline, offering counter-narratives of ag(e)ing and an analytical interpretation of the production of circumlocutions, here understood as a communicative strategy rather than uniquely a symptom. The study thus aim to contribute to the current and necessary discussions on the intricate relationship between language and ag(e)ing by drawing attention to the constitutive heterogeneity of the ag(e)ing process and the need for its inclusion into the reflections of Linguistics and hopefully other areas interested in ag(e)ing phenomena (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 15/15515-1 - Language in normal and pathological aging processes according to the Neurolinguistic approach |
| Grantee: | Larissa Picinato Mazuchelli |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |