The psychology of development of human throughout his life developing worldwide after 1970 strongly emphasizes the interest in human in all phases of his life. The holistic attitude of the life-span psychology – manifested in the approach to human as a person – a multidimensional, but irreducible being, who functions in many areas, but always in a holistic way, and also a being that develops in a customized manner and without exception at every stage of life - helped to formulate many new detailed research problems. The scope of these research interests has also been extended to people with intellectual disabilities who increasingly take on social roles that are assigned to adults and perform developmental tasks assigned to a particular phase of life. Also, they increasingly reach late maturity, as the time of their dying gradually progresses.
Per brevem hanc dissertationem nonnulae feruntur notitiae, quas nullas antea inqusitor invenit et vulgavit. Ilias, cum ab omnibus Graecarum litterarum cultoribus sit omnium longe antiquissimum opus putata, ab auctore contra postremum est diuturni civilis humanique cultus fructus ducta, quoniam poeta, hexametrum eiusque proprietates adhibens nec non vetutissimas fabulas narrans, haud indoctus videtur vel rudis. Cum autem qua de causa Crysa, Apollinis sacerdos, ad Agamemnona oraturus venerit, nonnulis antiquis documentis adductis, luculentius enodet, nonnulla instituta, eademque praecipua, ex propinquis orientis regionibus auctor a Graecis sumpta ostendit. In quibus, ut par est, sacerdotium, quod haud raro contra regis auctoritatem ac potestatem obsistere conatur, potissimum locum obtinet.
The Dictionnaire comique, satyrique, critique, burlesque, libre et proverbial by Philibert-Joseph Le Roux, published in 1786, is a dictionary containing fairly extensive lexical material, depicting elderliness in both men and women. This article aims to demonstrate the differences in perception of old age depending on whether it concerns women or men. A visible dichotomy in the manner of speaking about the old age of both genders, as well as their physiology, physical aspects and social role show that old men were treated with a greater tolerance, whereas the female aging process was scorned and ridiculed. An analysis of expressions used to describe old age in both women and men in Le Roux’s dictionary shows that it never constitutes a neutral subject matter, and it is characterised by strong emotional charge, as reflected in expressions referring to this stage of life. On the one hand, its descriptions are vulgar, scornful, and situate old age in contexts where it is ridiculed. On the other hand, however, old age does not condemn people to infirmity: it becomes a time of wisdom and experience. In the linguistic view of the world at the end of the 18th-century in France, the latter, more positive aspect of aging, referred primarily to men.
The paper deals with the conception and depiction of the positive image of senility in A. Kuprin’s prose (works of 1890–1910 and of 1930s). The following functional features of the images of old people are analyzed: 1) the meaning of being old (old people as perceived by the young and the old); 2) the role in the storyline: loneliness and the attempts to overcome it, assistance (providing help / wise advice); philosophical thinking in an existential situation (death, emigration from Russia); as well as the devices of depicting senility (kinship / non-kinship, application of the scheme “an old man + achild + apet (dog / cat)”). It is concluded that the images of the old comply with the established Russian ideals: “diffuse communication” (K. Kasyanova), love for the Motherland, and due to this the ontological plane is revealed in these works.
PL
Artykuł ukazuje sposób przedstawienia pozytywnego obrazu starości w prozie Aleksandra Kuprina i rozważa jego znaczenie (utwory z lat 1890–1910). Obrazy starców poddano analizie uwzględniającej semantyczne nacechowanie starości (podejście do starości przez ludzi młodych i starych); udział postaci w fabule: samotność i próby jej przezwyciężenia, okazywanie pomocy (od spraw codziennych do „mądrej rady”); filozoficzne rozważania o sytuacji egzystencjalnej (śmierć, emigracja); sposoby prezentacji starości (stosunki rodzinne i pozarodzinne, wykorzystanie schematu starzec + dziecko + zwierzę: pies lub kot). We wnioskach podkreślono, że obrazy starców w prozie Kuprina łączą się z modelem stałych wartości wyznawanych przez Rosjan. Dzięki wprowadzeniu do utworów postaci ludzi starych, problematyka wzbogacona zostaje o sens ontologiczny.
Author's aim is to describe issue of senility in Poland. Researcher describes biological and communal problems which are related to senility, including problems that families of older people have to face with, even when they can count on any help. Author wants to pay attention to changes that had been made in society and in single human being by fact, that human life is longer than before.
The stages of human life and the corresponding physiological changes have been described in many ways since ancient times. Although old age was characterized by physical and mental weakening (senility), it was portrayed as an age of wisdom which contrasted youth dominated by passions. Vincent of Beauvais devoted a few extensive chapters of Speculum naturale to the last stage of life and cited works of Cicero, Aristotle, Horace, Virgil, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, Avicenna, Isidore of Seville, which gave him a place in the intellectual tradition of his era. According to him, the advantages of old age were moderation in pleasures, lower libido, wisdom, maturity of advice, common sense and reconciliation to death. The negative aspects of senility were diseases, discouragement and drowsiness. The physical weakness of the body affected the stability of mind. Vincent recognized old age as a natural period in human life and characterized it from the philosophical and medical points of view. He chose those pieces of writings which he considered important and representing different aspects of old age. He advised on nutrition, strengthening of the body and mental energy. Vincent emphasized that old age should be considered as fate. Therefore, there is no reason to fall in despair and wallow in hopelessness, but prepare for death through a wise life.
For more than twenty years, the number of elderly people in Europe has been increasing. This process is called “the graying of the continent”. The aging of societies raises many problems of a medical, social and economic nature. On the other hand, the increase in the quality of life of seniors caused less spending on medical and social care. The article attempts to analyze the quality of life of seniors in selected countries of the European Union. The level of quality of life was examined in economic aspect. Particular attention is paid to the health of the population in selected EU country and the level of poverty. The article indicates countries with the highest quality of life of the elderly and countries in which the quality of life of seniors is low.
The correspondence of St Ambrose, of which 91 letters survive, provides a picture of his pastoral and social activities. His letters were directed to people of differing ages and classes; in some of them one can find his views on ageing, its features and dangers and how the old should be cared for. The period of old age is, according to the Bishop of Milan, the period of becoming a perfect men. Ambrose considered that with advancing age man grows towards perfection and maturity in the human sense, but more importantly in the moral and religious sense. He taught that everyone must try to improve themselves gradually throughout life by conversion and repentance, achieving maturity and perfection by the time of death.
The paper discusses Adolf Rudnicki’s story Shakespeare (1946) depicting the life of Jakub and Maciej, two representatives of so called “generation 1910”, for whom WWII became the end of youth and the beginning of their premature aging. Hence, the youth of the protagonists corresponds to a pre-war and the senility to a post-war stage of their life. The pre-war life histories of Jakub and Maciej contain autobiographical and biographical references, at the same time characteristics of writers of “generation 1910” are also brought to the foreground. But in the post-war life histories of the protagonists we can see two opposing paths of one man and consequently also interpret the story itself in two ways: as Rudnicki’s personal contemplation of the two potential variants of his own further biography or as a reflection on two possible paths of Polish writers, in particular of Jewish origin, who have experienced WWII.
W rozlicznych słownikach i encyklopediach znaleźć można dziesiątki definicji bezpieczeństwa – od bezpieczeństwa państwa począwszy, na bezpieczeństwie rodziny i pojedynczego obywatela kończąc. Nie wdając się w analizę owych definicji, z całą pewnością stwierdzić można, że bezpieczeństwo to istotna i ponadczasowa dla człowieka wartość czy też bliżej dobro, które warunkuje pomyślne i szczęśliwe życie. Bezpieczeństwo rodziny do dziewiętnastego stulecia wyznaczane było przez jej wspólnotowy charakter. Dla tego typu grupy rodzinna tradycja i przeszłość stanowiły jej korzenie, a przekaz wspólnotowego dorobku następnym pokoleniom było niezbywalnym warunkiem bezpieczeństwa i trwania rodziny. Zapewniała ona również opiekę i zabezpieczenie życiowych potrzeb protoplastom rodu. Przemiany w rodzinie, jakie przyniósł ze sobą rozpad feudalnego ładu, to rozpad wielopokoleniowej familii na rodzinę pochodzenia i rodzinę prokreacji. Konsekwencją między innymi owych przemian rodziny jest fakt, że dzisiaj starzy rodzice i dziadkowie pozostawieni są sami sobie i przeważnie ich życie płynie swoim niezależnym nurtem poza rodziną.
EN
In a number of dictionaries and encyclopedias we can find dozens of definitions of security, ranging from national security to the safety of the family and the individual citizen. Without going into a deep analysis of these definitions, it can be certainly stated that security is an essential and timeless human value, or even ‘the good’ that determines a successful and happy life. Family safety, to the nineteenth century, was determined by its sense of togetherness. For such a group, the family tradition and the past were its roots, and the transmission of the family’s legacy to future generations was the essential condition for the family’s safety and survival. It also provided the care and the protection for the progenitor’s life. The transformation in the family, that was brought by the collapse of the feudal order, is the breakdown of the multi-generational family into the family of origin and procreation. The consequence of these changes is the fact that today’s old parents and grandparents are left on their own and have to lead lonely life outside the family.
The article is not a historical but a sociological presentation of the “history of the senility”. It traces the transformations of definitions of the old age and elderly in the context of the social history of the state. Historical presentation aims to clarify present culture, namely roots of the images of ageing. At the basis of this paper there lies the assumption that all the notions, including political ones, are cultural constructs.
Antithesis of juvenility and senility is examined in connection with grammatical presentation of redundant paradigm «years – times». In the context of understanding of the meaning of existence and the idea of being the thesis of not an existential nature of senility is formulated. In ontognoseological aspect the contraposition of concepts of «reality» and «actuality» becomes meaningful.
The article is devoted to the image of senility in two dramas — Endgame by Samuel Beckett and the dramatic text entitled Evening by Aleksiej Dudarau. The authoress introduces the conception of acharacter realized in analyzed texts and also shows the great importance of stage directions in the reconstruction of the title issue. In both dramas death appears very frequently. Death and senility are depicted as mutually conditioning experiences. The self-awareness of one’s own temporality increases with age and the sensation that the nature is limited and mortal starts to cause the most intense feelings and emotions, triggers questions, full of disbelief about the sense and end of everything.
RU
Статья посвящена образу старости в двух драматических произведениях — Конец игры Сэмюэля Беккета и Вечер Алексея Дударева. Автор работы рассматривает концепции характеров, представленных в анализируемых текстах, а также обращает внимание на огромную роль ремарок для понимания главной идеи произведений. В обеих пьесах постоянно присутствует тема смерти. Смерть и старость показаны как взаимообуславливающие явления. Осознание кратковременности собственной жизни, а с ним и понимание ограниченности сил природы, усиливается с возрастом; что в итоге рождает важнейшие вопросы, полные недоверия, о смысле и конце всего сущего.
The aim of the study is to compare Samuel Beckett’s monodrama Krapp’s Last Tape (1958) and Wiesław Myśliwski’s novel Ucho Igielne (2018) in the context of the construction of time, which, despite the genre and content differences between those literary works, is parallel. The characters are returning to the past by reconstructing the figure of their younger selves and entering into a specific dialogue with them. The relationship between the past and the present is interpreted in the context of Paul Ricoeur’s concept of narrative identity. Each of the works is an unusual study of the old age and the structure of human memory.
In the article on the material of the Bunin’s diary the writer’s attitude to his own age is considered. The author’s reflection on the phenomenon of aging is investigated through the prism of the unity immanent to Bunin of an acute sense of the death of the strongest thirst for life. This duality in the worldview of Bunin determines the nature of his prose and his thoughts in a diary. Along with his diary are used his correspondence, his poetry and fiction associated with self documentary discourse. The article reveals the dynamics and evolution of the perception his own age by Bunin.
UK
У статті на матеріалі щоденникових записів І.О. Буніна розглядається ставлення письменника до власної старості. Авторська рефлексія з приводу феномена старості досліджується крізь призму властивого Бунінуз’єднання в його світовідчуттіг острого почуття смерті з найсильнішою жагою до життя. Така подвійність у світогляді Буніна визначає характер його художньої прози і роздумів у щоденнику. Поряд з щоденниковими записами залучається листування Буніна, а також його вірші і художня проза, пов’язана з автодокументальним дискурсом. У статті виявлена динаміка і еволюціяві дношення Буніна до власної старості.
This article is an image of old age issues presented by adolescents and people in late adulthood. The definition of image of old age is based on existing in today's society negative stereotypes. The study involved a representative sample of 385 people, including 179 adolescents and 206 seniors. It has been shown tendencies to a more negative, stereotypical perception of old age by adolescents. They pointed to more frequent and more satisfying growing up with grandparents contact /grandmothers as a factor shaping a more positive image of old age. In the group of seniors a more positive image of old age was associated with: female gender, a better education and health, the average economic conditions as well as involvement in organized forms of activity. The presented studies have educational and prophylactic value.
Artykuł poświęcony został rozważaniom o starości i doświadczeniu, rozumianym jako kategorie opisu, ale i zjawiska, cechujące się w dużej mierze oczywistością, głównie z powodu swojej powszechności. Autorka wyjaśnia i opisuje te kategorie, podejmując próbę ukazania ich wzajemnych relacji i uwarunkowań, a także osadzając je w kontekście ponowoczesności.
EN
The article is devoted to consideration of old age and experience, understood at categories of description, but also phenomena which are largely. Because of its universality. The author explains and describes these categories, attempting to show their mutual relations and determinants, and also embedding them in the context of postmodernity.
The situation of the elderly and ill in the contemporary postmodern society constitutes a serious challenge for contemporary societies as well as for pastoral work of the Church. Reflections of Pope Francis describing the fate of the elderly and ill in the contemporary reality are to be found in the above article. The issue has been discussed in the following subsections: “Competences of the postmodern society towards the elderly and ill” (chapter I); “The significance of the Christian community for the life of the elderly and ill” (chapter II); “The objectives of the pastoral conversation” (chapter III).
Natchnieni autorzy Pisma Świętego w pierwszej kolejności przypisują mądrość samemu Bogu. Dotyczy to głównie dzieła stworzenia świata i człowieka. Mądrość ludzka z kolei stanowi Boży dar, o który ciągle trzeba prosić Stwórcę. Przykład takiej ufnej modlitwy o mądrość zostawił nam król Salomon, który nie prosił Boga o długie życie, bogactwo, czy o zgubę swoich nieprzyjaciół, ale o serce pełne rozsądku – w celu sądzenia i rozróżniania dobra od zła. Ta ludzka mądrość dotyczy głównie osób dojrzałych i starszych, ale to wcale nie znaczy, że jest ona zarezerwowana tylko i wyłącznie dla tych ludzi. Owa mądrość przejawia się przede wszystkim w pobożności, przestrzeganiu nakazów Prawa i bojaźni Bożej. Człowiek mądry może się także poszczycić wiedzą i bogatym doświadczeniem życiowym, dlatego to właśnie takie osoby dzieliły się swoją mądrością z innymi ludźmi (szczególnie z młodym pokoleniem), a gdy zaszła taka potrzeba – sądziły i doradzały. Starcy – odznaczający się mądrością – cieszyli się autorytetem i wielkim szacunkiem, a ich nagrodą była długowieczność i żywa pamięć wśród następnych pokoleń.
EN
The article shows what inspired the authors of Scripture in the first place to attribute wisdom to God alone. This mainly concerns the creation of the world and man. It also points to human wisdom, which is God's gift, of which there is still a need to ask the Creator. King Solomon left us an example of such trusting prayer for wisdom. He did not ask God for a long life, wealth, or the destruction of his enemies, but for a heart full of common sense – in order to judge and discern good and evil. This human wisdom applies primarily to mature and older people, but that does not mean that it is reserved only for them. That wisdom manifests itself primarily in piety, observance of the precepts and fear of God. A wise man can also boast extensive knowledge and life experience, because he can share his wisdom with other people (especially the young generation), and when the need arises he can think and advise. Old men – distinguished by wisdom – enjoyed great authority and respect, and the reward for their longevity and life was a living memory for future generations.
W artykule ukazano starość w perspektywie potrzeby przezwyciężania osamotnienia osób w poprodukcyjnym okresie życia. Opisano starość w perspektywie wyników badań GUS, dotyczących życia osób starszych w Polsce. Wykazano, że rodzina jest ważnym środowiskiem aktywizacji seniorów. Aktywność osób starszych wspierają zorganizowane struktury społeczne: uniwersytety trzeciego wieku oraz kluby seniora. W artykule wskazano obszary działalności obu tych struktur.
EN
The article shows senility from the perspective of the need to overcome people loneliness in the postproductive period of life. Old age is described from the perspective of findings from GUS (Central Statistical Office), concerning the life of older persons in Poland. The family is also shown as an important environment for the activation of seniors. The activity of older persons is supported and organized by social structures: Universities of the Third Age and seniors’ clubs. The article indicates the areas of activity of both of these structures.
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